Christophe Soumillon banned after giving Rossa Ryan the elbow in extraordinary incident

Christophe Soumillon has been banned for two months for elbowing Rossa Ryan out of the saddle at Saint-Cloud on Friday.

Soumillon was riding Syros in the Prix Thomas Bryon Jockey Club de Turquie and just before the field turned for home he moved towards Ryan on Ralph Beckett's Captain Wierzba before elbowing his fellow rider.

Syros finished second to Aidan O’Brien’s Continuous in the Group Three contest, but was subsequently disqualified and the stewards deemed Soumillon worthy of a 60-day suspension for dangerous riding which will see him out of action from 14 October to 12 December.

Ryan thankfully walked away unscathed.

A shocking incident in the Prix Thomas Byron, as Christophe Soumillon elbows Rossa Ryan out of the saddle at Saint-Cloud.pic.twitter.com/9FVbzvodFc

"I felt a little bit of pressure from Rossa on my outside while trying to keep a better position behind Ryan (Moore). I was just behind Ryan at the time and I put my elbow against him just to make him understand I wasn’t going to the inside," Soumillon explained to Sky Sports Racing.

"Unfortunately when I asked my horse to stay there and go a little bit to the right I have pushed him for a stride or two and he fell off.

"Straight away I knew I made a mistake and I’m terribly sad about what happened because I hate to see stuff like this. When you are doing that it is even more terrible, so I really want to apologise to everyone, all involved with the horse.

"I have just seen the jockey and he is fine and I’m happy about that and the horse too. As for all the people who love racing, it was not a nice act from my side and I’m terribly sorry and want to apologise for what happened today."

He continued: "I have just received a big suspension from the France Galop