The father of Irish jockey Rossa Ryan said he was 'horrified and disgusted' when watching Christophe Soumillon elbow his son out of the saddle in a race on Friday.
Belgian jockey Soumillon has been given a two-month ban by the French racing authorities for causing Galway man Rossa to lose his balance and tumble to the turf during a race at Saint-Cloud.
Despite falling off the horse at high speed and landing awkwardly, Rossa, 22, was able to walk away without serious injuries.
READ MORE: Irish jockey Rossa Ryan pushed off his horse by jockey rival Christophe Soumillon
Soumillon, 41, has apologised for his actions and said he was ready to "suffer the consequences".
But many racing people believe that he should have been given a more severe punishment for the shocking act.
This includes Rossa's father David, a trainer himself, who is still in disbelief and shock at the incident.
He told the Irish Daily Mirror: "I've been involved in racing all my life and I've never seen anything like it.
"Someone said to me yesterday, 'if you'd seen someone on a motorbike elbowing somebody like that you'd be looking at jail time'.
"But to get a two-month suspension for probably one of the most dangerous things I have ever seen on a racecourse? I was disgusted by it.
"I was horrified to think that somebody would be that malicious in a professional sport."
David told how he keeps thinking about the fate that befell jockey Freddie Tylicki, who was left paralysed from the waist down after an accident at Kempton Park in 2016.
"It keeps coming back to me that not that long ago Freddie Tylicki was paralysed in a fall at Kempton. Yesterday could have very easily been the same.
"For any parent watching that you would be horrified.
"I know Rossa is a grown man, he is 22 years of age and well able to paddle his own canoe.
"But from a parent's perspective, looking at it, I feel disgusted.
David said his son, a leading jockey in the UK, is doing fine and wants to forget about the whole incident.
"He wants to put the whole thing behind him and doesn't want to talk about it.
"I can understand that, and I suppose I shouldn't be commenting on it either, but I was just so horrified by it as a parent.
"What happened there was nothing short of disgusting."
Insult to injury for David is that Soumillon is free to ride in a lucrative meeting at Longchamp this weekend - including a ride on the fancied Vadeni in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Sunday - as the jockey's ban won't begin until October 14.
Ryan said: "I lived in France. I served my time as an apprentice in France. I've nothing but good things to say about French racing, but I was horrified by what I saw yesterday and the punishment was just not good enough.
"I just hope that the Irish Turf Club and the BHA will decide within a short space of time that they are not going to allow Christope Soumillion onto a Irish or British racecourse.
"He should not be allowed to compete, full stop."
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Irish jockey Rossa Ryan pushed off his horse by jockey rival Chris Soumillon
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