Another jockey blow for Ballydoyle with Christophe Soumillon set to miss Cambridgeshire meeting due to ban

Aidan O'Brien has been hit with another blow to his jockey plans as Christophe Soumillon, who was drafted in to fill the void left by the injured Ryan Moore, will miss the Cambridgeshire meeting at Newmarket this month after receiving two separate bans.

It was revealed last month that Ballydoyle's number one rider Moore was to miss the remainder of the campaign due to a fractured femur. It was a dilemma for O'Brien made all the more problematic due to number two Wayne Lordan losing an appeal against a ten-day suspension and missing out on a significant period that featured the Irish Champions Festival and Doncaster's four-day St Leger meeting.

Soumillon was drafted in as number one and sparkled at Leopardstown on Saturday, with Delacroix's win in the Irish Champion Stakes the highlight of a treble.

The raceday stewards at Leopardstown imposed a two-day ban on Soumillon as a result of an incident coming out of the stalls on board Delacroix when his mount moved sharply to his left from stall eight, causing Royal Champion and Anmaat to be short of room. 

Delacroix: impressive winner at LeopardstownCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Soumillon stated that Delacroix "broke very well and shied away from the camera car on the outside", and while the stewards agreed that he had broken to his left, they felt the rider "failed to take reasonable steps to correct his mount", banning him on September 22 and 23.

Two days earlier, the rider partnered Sugar Island to finish third in the Group 2 May Hill Stakes at Doncaster. However, the whip review committee convened on Tuesday and found Soumillon to have used the whip above the permitted level of six on the Flat in Britain. The committee suspended him for six days from September 25 to 30 inclusive.

It makes Lordan's return from suspension on Friday extremely timely for the Ballydoyle team.

The Group 1 Cheveley Park and Middle Park Stakes on September 27 are the most significant races Soumillon will miss, with True Love and Gstaad among the possible Ballydoyle contenders for the Newmarket races.

Read this next:

Hollie Doyle excited by Hong Kong challenge after 'stop-start year' with Dylan Browne McMonagle also set for winter stint 

Arc blow for Japan as Shin Emperor is ruled out of Longchamp showpiece 

Aidan O'Brien blown away by Delacroix in Irish Champion Stakes - but reveals star colt may have run his last race

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.