It thickens for Christophe Soumillon. According to our information, the 41-year-old Belgian crack jockey should receive a new suspension of one or two months, in addition to the two months he is currently serving following an incident which occurred on Friday September 30. .
That day, the multiple Cravache d’or caused, following a nudge, the fall of a competitor, Rossa Ryan, in the middle of a race on theSaint Cloud Racecourse (Hauts-de-Seine), without the latter being injured. If Christophe Soumillon immediately pleaded guilty at the microphone of Equidia – “I made a mistake… I wanted to apologize to all the people who love racing, sport” – he was inflicted in following a suspension of 60 days, from October 14, by France Galop, the company organizing the flat races.
But as revealed by Gallop Daythe Racing and Games police have decided to use their administrative police prerogatives in this case, announcing in a letter to France Galop their intention to ask it to increase the suspension of the star jockey in France, or even to take away his license.
“A very bad image of French horse racing…”
“The deliberately dangerous behavior of Mr. Soumillon presents a serious risk of disturbing public order in the world of horse racing… A very bad image of French horse racing has been strongly relayed at world level because of these facts which remain very shocking, given the images broadcast by the TV channels… Under article L114-1 of the Internal Security Code, the behavior of Mr. Soumillon has become incompatible with the maintenance of an approval”, indicated in particular the missive, according to the specialized daily.
According to our information, we would rather be heading for a new suspension of one or two months, and not a withdrawal of license as has been mentioned in the press. Christophe Soumillon, helped by his advice, has until November 18 at the latest to formulate his observations in writing for his defense.
