'Simply unacceptable' - why Christophe Soumillon can have no arguments with his eight-day ban

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A stewards' report update provided the main talking point from the opening day of Royal Ascot as Christophe Soumillon was handed an eight-day ban after he was ruled to have ridden in a manner that assisted a stablemate in the St James's Palace Stakes.

An inquiry found Soumillon, on 16-1 shot Puerto Rico, had been guilty of creating an advantage for Ryan Moore's mount Gstaad, the first string from Aidan O'Brien's stable. 

• Read more fallout on the Christophe Soumillon ban on our Royal Ascot live blog

The stewards decided Soumillon had deliberately moved Puerto Rico off the rail following the home bend, creating an opening for second favourite Gstaad up the inside. It appeared to give Gstaad an advantage and he finished second to Bow Echo, beaten a short head, while Puerto Rico trailed in last of the six runners.

The incident and ban attracted plenty of commentary on social media, and three senior Racing Post writers have had their say.

Lack of subtlety the issue for Soumillon

By Chris Cook, senior reporter

For a jockey, trying to employ team tactics in a race is a bit like being a trainer trying to get a horse down to a good handicap rating: it's mostly a question of manners. If you have good manners, you can get away with quite a bit in racing.

If you make the effort, on behalf of everyone else, of disguising your intentions, then your work will be admired. If, on the other hand, you let it be obvious what you're doing, you'll put officials in the position of having to discipline you, and that's just embarrassing for everyone. 

• Racing Post+ subscribers can watch the full replay here

Watching Christophe Soumillon aboard Puerto Rico in the St James's Palace Stakes, it was too easy for onlookers to say: "Hullo! I know what's going on here..."

Soumillon got an eight-day ban for a lack of subtlety and that's really what should have been recorded in the stewards' report.

A suspension was appropriate

By Lee Mottershead, senior reporter

It is unlikely the Royal Ascot stewards approach their job with the late Roy Walker's Catchphrase catchphrase "say what you see" in mind but in the report notice that followed the St James's Palace Stakes they said what they saw. It is hard to argue that they interpreted what they saw incorrectly.

Debate around team tactics is not new in racing, particularly in relation to Ballydoyle. Indeed, it was a hot topic after the St James's Palace in 2020. 

"There’s no place for team tactics in racing, such a shame to watch the St James's run like that," said Qatar Racing's Sheikh Fahad on X after a contest in which the stewards asked questions about how the three Aidan O'Brien-trained runners had been ridden. On that occasion they took no action. On Tuesday they decided a threshold had been crossed.

Only Christophe Soumillon truly knows what was crossing his mind when his front-running mount Puerto Rico came a long way off the fence on entering Ascot's home straight. It was a move that caused interference to Power Blue but crucially also opened up a golden highway for Ballydoyle first string Gstaad.

Puerto Rico (left) edges left, enabling Gstaad (rear left) a clear run up the inside in the St James's PalaceCredit: ITV Racing

Given the possibility of an appeal, BHA chief steward Shaun Parker has declined invitations to talk to the media about the decision to ban Soumillon for eight days. However, one must assume Parker and his panel also saw Soumillon take a glance across his right shoulder when negotiating the bend. The obvious inference from that action is he was looking to check on the whereabouts of the Ryan Moore-ridden Gstaad.

What Soumillon will have seen was Gstaad right behind him on the rail. Soumillon then saw Gstaad dash past on his inner. He saw what he saw. So did the stewards and so did the rest of us. 

Based purely on what we all saw, a suspension was surely appropriate.

What happened was simply unacceptable

By Richard Russell, analyst

The genesis of the rule that was enforced on Tuesday can be traced back to an incident over the same course and distance 20 years ago, when a furious Frankie Dettori, riding Librettist, accused Seamie Heffernan, on Ivan Denisovich, of forcing him wide to enhance George Washington’s chance of winning the QEII. It was enacted two years later when Red Rock Canyon shifted off the rail to allow Duke Of Marmalade up the fence in a rearranged Juddmonte International Stakes at Newmarket.

While you have to feel a degree of sympathy for Christophe Soumillon, who was on the sharp end of the stewards’ decision despite only carrying out orders, what happened in the St James’s Palace was simply unacceptable.

Tactics play a part in every race in Britain and Ireland, but the team tactics we witnessed when Puerto Rico manufactured a gap for Gstaad, have absolutely no part in our sport, and the BHA may need to think about ramping up its deterrents should this happen again.

Read these next . . .

Christophe Soumillon hit with eight-day ban for assisting stablemate Gstaad on outsider in messy St James's Palace Stakes 

'Not one of my finest rides' - How Bow Echo bailed Billy Loughnane out of trouble in a messy St James's Palace 

Bow Echo edges St James's Palace Stakes thriller to maintain unbeaten record for relieved Billy Loughnane 

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