Soumillon seething after being handed ban Christophe Soumillon was left seething after being handed a five-day ban for breaching the new whip regulations during his winning ride on Cirrus Des Aigles in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot. The new rules, which came into effect on Monday, state a rider can only use his whip seven times in a Flat race, with only five of those 'hits' allowed inside the final furlong. Belgian-born, French-based Soumillon was ruled to have used his whip six times in the last furlong, and as well as his ban he also forfeited his riding fee and percentage of prize-money, amounting to around £50,000. Soumillon said: "I'm very embarrassed for English racing today. "You have a lot of problems but the whip is not one of them. "Jockeys are not here to whip horses, they are here to make the horses do their best and that is what I tried to do. "We now have padded whips, they are very soft and I hit my horse to make him do his best in the last furlong. "Unfortunately, maybe I should have hit him before the final marker but the rules have only been in one week. "I just gave six, I didn't give eight, nine or 10. "For a little mistake they give me a five-day suspension and I'm fighting for the title in France, so it is important for my career and they take away all my prize money, around £50,000." He went on: "Never can a fine like this have been handed out in sport. "I never saw Zinedine Zidane get a fine like this, or Michael Schumacher in Formula One. "I cannot understand why they change it one week before Champions Day. "I was just beside So You Think who everybody knows is a very tall horse. How can I see the furlong marker? "There are (blue and white) publicity banners everywhere on the track, how can I see the marker? "The marker is small yet for this small mistake I get a big ban. I don't understand and I think the English jockeys have to get together to sort it out because it is impossible to work this way. "I was shocked when I heard what happened to Richard Hughes (who pledged to relinquish his licence on Thursday night after a second whip ban) and when they asked me to ride Dick Turpin instead of him I was not very happy but I won on him last time in Milan and the owner wanted me. "I was very afraid to get a suspension. You can't change the rule in one week. "We are civilised people. This is 2011, not 1800, you can't kill people like they used to. "The rules can change, but not like that. The rules should all be the same, you can't cut people's heads and legs off. "Today I didn't make a mistake so what happened. The rules should be the same everywhere in the world. Today is a world championships. When you go to the Breeders' Cup, Hong Kong, Melbourne Cup the rules are all the same. "I can't say I'll never ride in England again because if the people I have contracts with have runners I will ride. "For me you have to know. Can you hit them five times or seven? The furlong marker rule makes no sense." He later told Racing UK: "I will take a good lawyer and see what I can do."
