On Friday, during a race at nearby Saint-Cloud, Belgian Jockey Christophe Soumillon elbowed his fellow rider, Rossa Ryan. Controversy over Christophe’s incident continued this weekend, but Christophe declined to offer further comment on this incident.
On Saturday, Christophe said I do not speak any more about this, and I said what I had to say.
Christophe was banned for 60 days for elbowing his fellow rider Rossa Ryan, who emerged unscathed from the race. But his suspension did not begin for a fortnight. On Saturday, it emerged that the sport’s ruling body in the country, France Galop, may change its rules to ensure that an immediate suspension is an option in the future.
Olivier Delloye, CEO of France Galop, said from what we saw yesterday, we would like to be in a position to impose a ban that starts immediately in those circumstances. Moreover, he said, It is very hard for people to understand after such an incident that the jockey can keep riding for 14 days.
The incident of Friday from Christophe slightly overshadowed the run-in to the Arc, for which runners trained in five countries, including Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and Ireland. These runners from five different countries filled the first five places in the betting after Thursday’s draw for stall positions.
The Timeform ratings suggest the shortest-priced of four challengers from Japan, Titleholder, the best horse in the 20-strong field, but by only a whisker.
Japan’s Titleholder and Soumillon’s mount, Vadeni, will be moving up from 10 furlongs to a mile and a half for the first time on Sunday. These two and Luxembourg are among those whose ability to act on testing ground is uncertain.
