Christophe Soumillon banned for two months for elbowing colleague at Saint Cloud

Ace jockey, Christophe Soumillon, has been banned for two months after an extraordinarily controversial incident, in which he elbowed Rossa Ryan out of the saddle. This happened at Saint Cloud during the Prix Thomas Bryon.

Christophe riding Syros naturally apologized profusely. In the back straight, his elbow made contact with Ryan on Captain Wierzba. It resulted in Ryan losing his balance. Unseated yes, but no harm done. Syros finished second behind Continuous (Ryan Moore 5-1) but was immediately disqualified.

Fortunately, Christophe will still be allowed to keep his engagement on Vadeni in Sunday's Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, 4.00 pm. However, he misses big meetings including the British Champions, Breeders' Cup and Japan Cup, while his chance of winning the Cravache d'or – French Flat jockeys' championship – appears over. He is 21 winners behind Maxime Guyon.

Chrisophe insisted the incident was not intentional. This indiscretion replicates a similar issue in the Ecuador Derby, where Joffre Mora on Contadino, was reportedly banned for life after pushing Luis Hurtado off Lukaku.

Meanwhile, the Qatar Prix de l'Arc, has now attracted 20 runners - Vadeni being the lowest priced at 4-7. Mishriff (William Buick 3-1), Torquator Tasso (Frankie Dettori 7-1), Bubble Gift (Olivier Peslier 5-1), Luxembourg (Ryan Moore 4-6), Alpinista (Luke Morris 4-1), and, Onesto (Stephane Pasquier 3-1), are right there with massive prospects.