Soumillon, Leon Elbow Their Way Into Racing Lore

Shaquille O'Neal, a large man who once played basketball, describes himself as "a connoisseur of throwing elbows." He does not exaggerate. A collection of NBA all-stars, from Charles Barkley to Scottie Pippen, can attest to the claim and show you where the bruises healed. O'Neal also played on four championship teams and scored more than 28,000 points, so maybe the ends justified the means. Then again, Shaq's got nothing on Christophe Soumillon or, to a lesser extent, Sonny Leon, jockeys of recent notoriety who, in the heat of battle, let their olecranon do the talking. That's the pointy end of the ulna, one of three bones making up the joint, which also can be deployed in a crowded theatre lobby or a Black Friday sales rush, but always with the caveat that you might get one right back, and twice as hard. Soumillon, 41, went with his right to knock Rossa Ryan, 22, out of his saddle during the running of a race at St. Cloud, in suburban Paris, on Sept. 30. The following day, Leon, 32, leaned left to elbow Tyler Gaffalione, 28, deep in the stretch at Churchill Downs during the running of the Lukas Classic (G2). Soumillon said he didn't know what he was doing and was very sorry, while Leon said his saddle slipped, declarations that dangled like ripe pinatas in the court of public opinion. The camera views are damning. Soumillon got 60 days from a suitably aghast French racing authority, while Leon will sit for 15, courtesy of the Kentucky stewards. Before their forced vacations (sounds blissful), both will be in action on Saturday, Oct. 8, when Leon rides in 10 of the 11 races at Gulfstream Park and Soumillon descends upon Keeneland for the mount on Coolmore's Order of Australia (IRE) in the Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes (G1T), formerly the Keeneland Turf Mile, formerly the Shadwell Turf Mile, formerly the Keeneland Breeders' Cup Turf Mile. This is an older, wiser, patched together version of the Order of Australia who shocked the 2020 FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF (G1T) at Keeneland at odds of 73-1. The son of Australia (GB) finished last in the Keeneland Turf Mile in 2021 as the favorite, but emerged from the race with an injured ankle. Eight months later he was back in action and thrown to Baaeed (GB) in the Queen Anne Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot. Third was not bad. Since then he's won a group 2 Irish race, gone unplaced in a couple group 1 events, and finished a distant second in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (G1), a race marred by the fatal injury of classic winner Coroebus (IRE). Order of Australia was ridden to his Breeders' Cup win by Pierre-Charles Boudot, who is not available because he has been suspended from riding since May of 2021 while facing an indictment of rape in France. Ryan Moore took over this season and was aboard for the Prix Moulin, but he is otherwise engaged on Saturday at Newmarket. So, of course Aidan O'Brien would turn to Soumillon, a jockey on the threshold of a stern suspension for dangerous behavior, when the trainer should have known that Paco Lopez will be at Keeneland on Saturday and does not have a mount in the Coolmore. This also will be Soumillon's first Keeneland appearance, a note met with mild surprise by chief Kentucky steward Barbara Borden. In his most recent Kentucky appearance, the native of Belgium finished third in the 2018 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Churchill Downs, beaten less than two lengths by Accelerate while aboard Godolphin's Thunder Snow (IRE)—the same Thunder Snow who left the gate with 19 other horses in the 2017 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) and proceeded to buck, jump, and bolt his way out of the race. Somehow, Soumillon stayed attached to steer the colt out of harm's way. "He got 10,000 points from me that day," Borden said on Friday, as the Keeneland meet was about to begin. "He did a wonderful job staying on that horse, and he averted the biggest disaster that could have befallen horse racing." That was then. Now, Soumillon arrives in Kentucky with a rap sheet from France Galop confirming the suspension set to begin Oct. 14. Reciprocity in this case traditionally requires the stewards presiding over the Keeneland meet to honor the terms of the French ruling, but that does not mean they won't have a word. "We meet with all jockeys prior to their participation," Borden said. "And we definitely do intend to meet with him." All this elbowing and shoving at racing speed has had trivia buffs exhuming past transgressions. The standard was set in the 1962 Preakness Stakes by Manuel Ycaza aboard Ridan in their tooth-and-nail stretch battle with John Rotz and Greek Money. Nearing the finish, Ycaza leaned left and poked an elbow into Rotz. Rotz kept riding and won by a nose, which prompted Ycaza to claim foul, reportedly pressured by Ridan's trainer, Moody Jolley. The stewards laughed that off and gave Ycaza 10 days. They call it "the heat of the battle." It's nothing more than an excuse for riders to take justice into their own hands while still on horseback instead of back in the room, or at least at the scales (see Borel v. Castellano, 2010 Breeders' Cup). Galloping out after a race is a popular alternative, as employed twice in memory at Del Mar, when veteran Rudy Campas saw fit to pull young James Felton out of the saddle and Corey Nakatani did the same to Ryan Barber, in retaliation for perceived offenses that took place during the race. In September of 1994, at Beverley Racecourse in Yorkshire, Kieren Fallon yanked Stuart Webster off his horse while pulling up. Webster, a 20-year veteran, had won the race. Fallon, 29 and on the cusp of stardom, obviously did not. It was reported that Webster declined a suggestion to shake hands with his assailant in a spirit of reconciliation, preferring instead to let the British authorities pass judgment first. Fallon was suspended for six months.