Soumillion loses Aga Khan retainer

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Soumillon loses retainer to ride Aga Khan horses

By racingpost.com staff 7.02PM 25 AUG 2009
CHRISTOPHE SOUMILLON has lost his retainer to ride the Aga Khan-owned horses in France. The rider, who has ridden for the Aga Khan for eight years, will not have his contract renewed for 2010but will continue to ride for the owner for the rest of the 2009 Flat season.
A statement said that "human relations have become difficult" and that the decision to end the contract came after "mutual agreement". However, the separation has been agreed on "amicable terms", the statement added.


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Interesting!

I wonder who they will go for?
 
from sportinglife:

The Aga Khan has reportedly severed his relationship with retained jockey Christophe Soumillon.
According to the the Racing Post, the split comes after the rider was criticised for comments he made about trainer Andre Fabre at a charity event.
Soumillon will ride for the Aga for the remainder of the current Flat season, but then their successful association will come to an end.
The Belgian pilot was on board the brilliant Zarkava last season when she romped to a sensational Arc victory.
The paper claims the 28-year-old Soumillon made the comments about Fabre during a jockeys' gala dinner at the Deauville Casino on Saturday.
He said he was happy that Alain de Royer-Dupre had become champion trainer, and added of Fabre: "He's so small you can hardly see him."
Soumillon later apologised.
A statement from the Aga Khan said Soumillion's contract will not be renewed for 2010 because "human relations have become difficult".
The possibility of Soumillon riding for the Aga again one day hasn't been ruled out.
 
Weak excuse to sack him.

Especially when everyone knows how Fabre is and what happen with him and the Aga.

Also surprising when he is riding better than ever,

interesting to see who is going to replace him.
 
sunybay said:
Weak excuse to sack him.

Especially when everyone knows how Fabre is and what happen with him and the Aga.

Also surprising when he is riding better than ever,

interesting to see who is going to replace him.
Click to expand...

What happened with Fabre and the Aga ? I am in the dark on this one.
 
Would Lemaire want the job though ? he is doing perfectly well and would probably lose the Rouget rides . Mosse could slot back in very easily.
 
Seems very strange, can hardly question his performances in the saddle. I hope he'll ride in the UK more now as he's top class.

Lemaire seems a good replacement, he's probably slightly better than Soumi as well.
 
Gamla Stan said:
Seems very strange, can hardly question his performances in the saddle. I hope he'll ride in the UK more now as he's top class.

Lemaire seems a good replacement, he's probably slightly better than Soumi as well.
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Erm - he seems top class at Longchamp - elsewhere I am not so sure - remember the X rated disaster that was Ouija Board's Eclipse.
 
You're forgetting the disaster that Alnadana was at Epsom and being ridden to sleep by an apprentice on a pacemaker at Deauville (Shemima being beaten by a stablemate)
 
It's a shame that this has happened, I've always liked Soumillion. Admittedly he is a bit of a loose cannon, but a terrific pilot nonetheless.
 
crazyhorse said:
from sportinglife: He said he was happy that Alain de Royer-Dupre had become champion trainer, and added of Fabre: "He's so small you can hardly see him."
Click to expand...

:lol::lol: ...I confess I think I tripped over him once... I've got the teeth marks as proof.
 
Lemaire announced today that he is renewing his contract as first jockey for Rouget,coincidence?I think not!
I had heard the same story about Soumillon making comments about Fabre at the jockeys Gala last Sat night.
 
This is good, from the RP....

'Soumillon is not a friend of mine,' says Fabre

By LEE MOTTERSHEAD7.00AM 27 AUG 2009
CARELESS talk about Andre Fabre on Tuesday cost Christophe Soumillon his job with the Aga Khan, but the words from Fabre on Wednesday were composed, cutting and potent as the French training legend criticised his former stable jockey's riding and summed up his feelings towards him by claiming: "He is not a friend of mine, he never has been and he never will be."
Fabre was speaking one day on from the shock announcement that the Aga Khan has sacked his long-term number one rider due to "difficult human relations".
That decision, which will come into effect at the end of this year, came after Soumillon made disparaging comments about Fabre's height at a gala dinner in Deauville on Saturday.



In response, Fabre, who axed Soumillon in 2007, said: "Soumillon is a top-class jockey, but I blamed him a lot of times for killing the horses and for using his whip much too much.
"I told him many times and it was the main cause of me not using him as a jockey. He still uses the whip too much for my taste, but that is only my opinion and apparently some other trainers like it.
"To be fair, though, Soumillon is the least of my concerns. He is not a friend of mine, he never has been and he never will be. I don't care at all (about him)."
 
You just get the feeling though that sometime in the future, an Aga Khan/Fabre runner is going to be denied in a big race, by a piece of Soumi magic...
 
The Aga Khan doesn't have any more horses with Fabre though, does he?

I think Soumillion is a spoiled brat, and Fabre has spoken well. He's overrated outside Longchamp for me, and I'm thinking Fabre was referring to (amongst many others I'm sure to make such a point) Hurricane Run's King George win, which I felt perhaps shouldn't have stood due to the really excessive whipping by Soumillion.
 
It's got all the classic hallmarks of a 'straw that broke a camels back'. The offence itself wouldn't normally be considered serious enough, although there's possibly an issue to do hierarchical deference which is more prevalent in the Arab culture (what would happen to an employee like Dettori if he'd something similar?) but reading between the lines it sound sas if things had been a bit strained and eventually it was a case of enough is enough. If it were untenable afterall, they'd simply have sacked him with immediate effect
 
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