Who will ride leading Betfred St Leger contender Lazy Griff in the Doncaster Classic on Saturday week is up in the air after Christophe Soumillon ruled himself out of contention over the weekend.

Soumillon, who partnered Lazy Griff to finish second in the Derby, has been pencilled in for the St Leger since July. However, after Aidan O’Brien revealed on Monday that the Belgian rider will play a significant part of his plans while Ryan Moore recovers from a fractured femur, Soumillon has had to relinquish the ride at Doncaster. 

“Christophe contacted us in July and said, ‘I would love to ride the horse’ and we said, ‘We’d love to have you’ but then I got a phone call on Saturday afternoon while I was at Chester, just after that news about Ryan had broken, saying Coolmore had come calling and it sounds like he’ll be in Ireland that day for them,” revealed Lazy Griff’s trainer Charlie Johnston.

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