Politics
Top jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot BANNED for three months as authorities take action in light of alleged rape
FRENCH racing authorities have banned top jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot for three months.
It comes as the rider, 28, was charged with an alleged rape earlier this week.
Boudot was top jockey in France last season[/caption]
Boudot was taken into custody on Monday and charged later in the week after questioning by police.
Boudot – who won the Arc in 2019 and has also struck at Royal Ascot – was also made a person of interest in a witness intimidation case.
Fellow jockey Pierre Bazire has been indicted on a charge of not reporting a crime and is also named as a witness in the case of intimidation.
Boudot – who in March posted on his Twitter account strongly denying any wrongdoing – was due to ride last year’s Arc runner-up In Swoop at ParisLongchamp on Thursday.
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But France’s governing body announced an initial two-day suspension late on Wednesday evening, before he then provided “observations” to France Galop on Friday.
The alleged claim is from a complaint made after a party in February this year.
A statement from France Galop read: “On Friday, 14 May, 2021, Pierre-Charles Boudot and Pierre Bazire, who have respectively been indicted by an investigating magistrate of the Senlis Judicial Court for rape and failure to report a crime, presented their observations to the France Galop stewards.
“Even though the two jockeys remain presumed innocent, the current criminal proceedings, the seriousness of the allegations and the fact of bringing racing into disrepute, as well as regarding the implications to the betting market, the stewards have, as a precautionary measure, suspended the said jockeys’ licence for a duration of three months in application of article 216 of the Racing Code.
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“These measures may be lifted or renewed depending on the elements that will be brought to the attention of the France Galop stewards.”
Boudot has also been accused of a separate case of rape dating back to 2015, which he also denies.
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