the "small" man stikes back
http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse...624732/latest/
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 saying: "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]."