AGA KHAN CEASES RETAINER ARRANGEMENT WITH CHRISTOPHE SOUMILLON WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Christophe Soumillon moment of madness when he unceremoniously nudged Rossa Ryan out of the saddle mid-race initiating a fall which could have had resulted in serious injury for his rival jockey, has had a sequel with the Aga Khan Breeding / Owner operation ending their retainer relationship with the champion jockey ‘with immediate effect.’

It would have to be fair to say that Soumillon could not possibly have had the intent of causing a fall, but, whether he was an unwitting victim of his own actions or not, the end result has proved to be catastrophic for his career in the short term.

The disqualification of Soumillon’s runner in the race was the first point of official sanction of the incident, quickly followed by a two-month suspension handed down by race stewards which immediately became a point of controversy ... arguably reflecting adversely on his reputation … with most people believing the punishment to be too light.

But ‘punishment’ can come in various forms and the Aga Khan Studs media release added another level to the fallout from the incident.

“Following last Friday’s incident at Saint-Cloud, which resulted in the fall of Rossa Ryan, the Aga Khan Studs have taken the decision to cease their retainer with jockey Christophe Soumillon with immediate effect,” the release read.

But it wasn’t a complete shutout.

The release continued, “From this week onwards, Soumillon may still ride in the Aga Khan silks on occasion at the discretion of the French trainers and the Aga Khan Studs team. At this stage, there is no intention to retain a jockey in France for the foreseeable future.

That appears to be more than just a small lifeline … given that he is essentially not being replaced … but still, losing the retainer is a big deal for Soumillon, who has a long established and very successful formal association with the Aga Khan having been the organizations retained rider on two occasions … both for long periods of time … from 2002 to 2009 and 2014 to 2022.

Following the race fall incident, Soumillon was still allowed to over the two-day Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe meeting where he was successful on Erevann in the Prix Daniel Wildenstein and finished second on Vadeni behind Alpinista in the Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe itself, with both horses carrying the Aga Khan colours.

Soumillion, who has issued a full apology for his actions, two-month suspension starts on October 14.