Soumillon back in the saddle with big-race ride in South Africa

Christophe Soumillon returns to riding in South Africa this weekend following his 60-day ban for elbowing Rossa Ryan off his horse at Saint-Cloud in September.

The actions of the Belgian, 10 times a champion in France, sparked widespread criticism and swift action was taken by France Galop to suspend Soumillon.

As a result of the incident, he also lost his contract as retained rider for the Aga Khan and missed potentially lucrative spells in Hong Kong and Japan. Meetings such as Champions Day at Ascot and the Breeders’ Cup also took place during his ban.

It is a big day in Cape Town at Kenilworth on Saturday and Soumillon has picked up the ride on Golden Ducat for trainer Eric Sands in the 162nd L’Ormarins King’s Plate, the top mile contest run in South Africa.

Golden Ducat has performed with promise in a pair of Graded races since returning from over 500 days off the track and Cape Town-based Sands is delighted to have the services of a jockey he regards as one of best three in the world.

“He’s a great rider,” he told Cape Racing. “Soumillon always rises to the occasion and gets horses to rise to the occasion. In my book he’s one of the best three jockeys in the world.”

On the chances of Golden Ducat, a son of Philanthropist and winner of the Cape Derby in 2020, he added: “His two prep runs were great runs and he was way below where we want him to be.

“Unfortunately after his last run he had a little tweak, so he had a few days off. He’s getting to his best now and he’ll be better for the Met (January 28). A mile is on a sharp side for him, but we’ll see how he goes and I’ve been happy with his prep.”

Previously run as the Queen’s Plate, the race was first staged in 1861 when Queen Victoria donated a silver plate and 500 sovereigns to the winner.