New whip rules wallop Soumillon with five-day 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 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.

“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, not eight, nine or ten.”