Credit where credit is due. The British horseracing authority has been trying to curb animal abuse and make horse racing more humane. With that in mind, a stricter rule was brought into force in 2023. Well, veteran jockey and multiple-stakes winner, Christophe Soumillon, is on the receiving end of such a disciplinary measure. And it does make things complicated, but not just for him.

Horse racing connoisseur Stephen R Power shared the big news on his X handle on September 17. “BREAKING: Christophe Soumillon has been ruled out of the Cambridgeshire meeting after picking up 8 days in bans. Two day suspension on DELACROIX for careless riding (22-23) & six days for SUGAR ISLAND at Doncaster overuse of whip by one strike (25-30)”.

And Power also shared which races Soumillon will be suspended for. “He’ll miss the G1 Middle Park and Cleveley Park Stakes along with the Rockfel, Royal Lodge, and Joel Stakes for Aidan O’Brien.” Christophe Soumillon’s absence from the Ballydoyle team will be covered by the returning Wayne Lordon, who himself had been serving a ban. But let’s look into the Soumillon suspension and what exactly happened.

Well, the whip-related infringement happened on September 11 at the Group 2 May Hill Stakes at Doncaster. Aboard Sugar Island, Soumillon ran home the Ballydoyle filly in 3rd place in the 8-furlong race. But on September 16, the whip review committee found the Belgian jockey guilty of going over the permitted limit of six times of whip use in a flat race.

The Whip Rules of 2023 from the British horseracing authority sanction at least 4-6 days of suspension for 1 count of excessive whip use. For 2 extra strikes, the ban can be 7-14 days. And there are guidelines for the proper way of using the whip on a horse (backhand movement, not above shoulder height, no excessive force that causes injuries, marks, etc.).

This got him a 6-day ban. And compounding it was the September 13 incident in the prestigious Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes (G1). Trainer Aidan O’Brien clinched the race for the 13th time in his career, and it was Soumillon’s 2nd win there being on the saddle. But the race day stewards at Leopardstown deemed an interference had been caused by Soumillon and his horse while coming out of the stalls.

The judgment is that Delacroix seemed to have moved sharply to his left from stall eight, causing Royal Champion and Anmaat to be short of room. While the jockey argued that Delacroix “shied away from the camera car on the outside” and moved to the left, the stewards felt Soumillion had “failed to take reasonable steps to correct his mount,” making it a careless driving penalty.

The 8-day ban comes as a challenge, especially when you get the full picture of what Ballydoyle has been dealing with.

Ballydoyle’s horse racing season gets complicated

Soumillon’s suspension will make him miss the Cambridgeshire meeting at Newmarket. That includes the Middle Park Stakes and the Cheveley Park Stakes, both GI stakes, to be run on September 27. But Soumillon’s suspension puts pressure on Ballydoyle’s schedule, which had been using the veteran for most of the races since September 7.

The 44-year-old has saddled Aidan O’Brien’s horses on 24 occasions since September 7, winning 3 races. He had been the lead jockey, with this arrangement becoming a necessity since Ballydoyle’s main jockey, Ryan Moore, got a serious femur injury a couple of weeks ago that practically ruled him out for the season.

Add to that the ban that Wayne Lordan had been serving from September 9 to 18, Christophe Soumillon was the main guy for Aidan O’Brien. Now, as soon as Lordan becomes available, Soumillon will be starting his suspension period. Yes, Ballydoyle also has Tom Marquand to fall back on, who has been sharing the rides with Soumillon over the past week.

So, let’s see how Ballydoyle Racing strategizes its next steps with almost no wriggle room on offer. Making the sport safer for the horses is quite noble, and these kinds of complications will only nudge the stakeholders to be mindful in the future.