Soumillon ruled to aided Gstaad at Royal Ascot but ban reduced on appeal

Christophe Soumillon has been partially successful in his appeal against the eight-day suspension handed out by the stewards at Royal Ascot following his ride on Puerto Rico in the St James’s Palace Stakes, having it reduced to five.

An independent disciplinary panel chaired by Clement Goldstone KC and including Aidan Coleman and Grace Cheng sat last week and reconvened for final submissions and deliberations on Thursday morning. It ultimately found Soumillon's ride had benefitted a stablemate, but that he had not intended it to do so.