Ruby Walsh: 'It's a racing manoeuvre and Christophe did not get it right'

Ruby Walsh described Christophe Soumillon's actions on Friday as a "racing manoeuvre" gone "badly wrong" but maintained the jockey's 60-day ban for elbowing Rossa Ryan out the saddle was appropriate.

Soumillon was quick to apologise after unseating his fellow rider at Saint-Cloud but insisted his actions were not intentional. He has since taken his first rides at Longchamp this weekend and is set to partner Vadeni in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (3.05) on Sunday.

France Galop has pledged to revisit its rules so that future bans can be activated immediately and confirmed it did not want Soumillon to be part of Arc weekend, while the owners of one horse the jockey is supposed to partner on Sunday said he should have given up his mounts – either voluntarily or through France Galop intervention.

"It's a racing manoeuvre and Christophe did not get it right," Walsh told ITV Racing. "He moved his body, his horse didn't follow and he made contact with Rossa Ryan, who falls off. It doesn't look good."

Christophe Soumillon was back in action in France on Saturday after Friday's incidentCredit: Edward Whitaker

Walsh pointed to Soumillon carrying out the manoeuvre "properly" when winning this year's Commonwealth Cup aboard Perfect Power. During the race, the jockey is short of room and raises his arm to move Jim Crowley on Ehraz out the way with two furlongs to travel.

"Unfortunately he got it badly wrong and he received the suspension to go with what he did. Contact is part of every sport. Lord Sebastian Coe talks about athletes jostling over 400 metres and how athletes have to learn to run a race. It will happen in the Manchester Derby on Sunday with Martinez spending the whole day jostling Haaland."

Asked whether it is different in racing due to the high speeds and risks involved, Walsh added: "Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have to react at more than 100mph. That is the sport you're in. Reactions are part of it and danger is part of every sport. Christophe got an appropriate ban and thankfully Rossa Ryan walked away."

Rossa Ryan was dislodged from his mount when Christophe Soumillon made contact with his elbow during a race at Saint-CloudCredit: Sky Sports Racing

Trainer Richard Fahey, a former jump jockey, refused to join the calls for stiffer punishment for Soumillon. Reflecting on the incident, he said: "It happens in racing, it was just a moment of madness. It looked horrendous – Christophe will know, he's not stupid and he regrets it but these things happen. Two months is a long time."

Meanwhile, trainer Karl Burke argued the jockey was "lucky" to have not picked up a longer ban, and added: "It was obviously a terrible incident. I'm pretty sure he didn't mean it, he caught Rossa unbalanced. But you can't do what he did.

"It's not for me to say how long he should be banned for but when you think that Kieren Fallon got six months for pulling Stuart Webster off a horse and that was when they were stopped after the line he's probably been lucky."

Read these next:

France Galop admits it did not want Christophe Soumillon at Longchamp

Christophe Soumillon defies call from owners and takes Arc weekend rides

Christophe Soumillon banned for two months after elbowing Rossa Ryan

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