Report: Soumillion is suspended 2 months for elbowing rival rider

Christophe Soumillon has been banned from the saddle for two months after elbowing another jockey, Rossa Ryan, during the Group 3 Prix Thomas Bryon on Friday at Saint-Cloud.

Five furlongs from the finish, Soumillon shifted out on his mount, Syros, and elbowed Ryan as he was doing so. That knocked Ryan off balance and he was unseated from his mount, Captain Wierzba. Though Syros crossed the wire second behind the winner Continuous, he was disqualified as a result of the incident. Captain Wierzba completed the course without a rider; Racing Post reported that Ryan was uninjured after the fall.

According to Racing Post the 41-year-old Belgian native will begin his suspension on Oct. 14 and serve it through Dec. 12. This means Soumillon will miss several major race meets including the Breeders' Cup and British Champions Day. Soumillon won the Breeders' Cup Turf in 2005 with Shirocco and ran third in the Classic with Thunder Snow in 2018, though he has not come to the Breeders' Cup since that ride. Soumillon last rode in North America June 8, 2019, when he rode Thunder Snow to a third-place finish behind Mitole in the Metropolitan Handicap (G1).

However, Soumillon will still be able to ride through the beginning of October. This means the 10-time champion rider can keep his appointment with Vadeni in Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Soumillon is Vadeni's regular rider, and has won three races including the Coral-Eclipse (G1) with the 3-year-old son of Churchill this year.