Principal Trainers: Luca Cumani, Mick Channon, Mark Johnston
Kieren Fallon has been one of the most talked about racing personalities in recent decades. A brilliant rider, his genius in the saddle is seemingly matched by his ability to get himself in trouble. As well as having won almost every race a Flat jockey aspires to win, he has also served many lengthy bans for all manner of offences. Since returning from his most recent suspension in 2009, he has expressed a desire to be crowned Champion Jockey in Britain for the seventh time and having enjoyed a highly-successful 2010, he could well mount a strong challenge for that title in 2011.
Early Days
Apprenticed to the Kevin Prendergast stable, Kieren Fallon rode his first winner on a horse called Picadilly Lord in an apprentice maiden at Navan on June 18th 1984. He certainly could not have been accused of being an overnight success, as it took him a couple of years to make his mark and two years later he finished in joint-seventh position in the Apprentice Championship with 10 winners. The following year saw an upturn in his fortunes as he finished runner-up to Champion Apprentice, Kevin Manning, with a total of 20 winners and in 1988 he enjoyed a big-race success on the Edward Harty-trained Pylon Sparks in the November Handicap at Leopardstown. Kieren decided to try his luck in the north of England shortly after this and became attached to the Lynda Ramsden stable.
Britain Beckons
It took Kieren quite a while to get noticed in England, but within a couple of years his strength in a finish and his will to win began to come to the attention of many different trainers and at the end of the 1992 season, he amassed a healthy total of 45 winners, with that figure increasing to 53 the following year. However in 1994, Fallon got himself involved in an unsavoury incident with jockey Stuart Webster in which he pulled him off his mount after passing the post. Not surprisingly the stewards took a dim view of Fallon’s actions and promptly slapped a six month ban on him which meant his tally of winners for 1994 was just 40.
Climbing The Ladder
However, the following season Kieren began to really make his presence felt on the English racing scene and an excellent season saw him ride 91 winners and twelve months later his tally increased to 135, a figure that helped him to finish third in the Champion Jockey table. It was around this time that he became first jockey to the powerful Henry Cecil stable and they became a tremendously successful combination in a lot of the top Group races in Britain and all around Europe. Fallon and Cecil got their relationship off to a great start when Sleepytime won the English 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in 1997 while later that year they combined to win the Epson Oaks with Reams Of Verse and the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood with Ali Royal. 1997 was also the year that Kieren Fallon became British Champion Jockey for the first time with 196 winners, a feat he would go on to achieve on five more occasions.
Reigning Champion
1998 saw continued big race-success for Fallon and Cecil as they teamed up to win the Yorkshire Oaks with Catchascatchcan and with Dr Fong to win the St James Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot in a year in which he rode 185 winners. 1999 saw Cecil and Fallon get off to a wonderful start and in the space of four short months they had bagged three of the first four British Classics. Wince landed the English 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, while Ramruma took the Epsom Oaks and 24 hours later Oath stormed home to win the Epsom Derby. In Ireland, the pair teamed up to win the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh with Shiva and in mid-July they completed the English-Irish Oaks double when Ramruma won the Kildangan Stud sponsored Classic in comfortable fashion. However, by the end of July the shock news emerged that Cecil had sacked Kieren due to personal reasons with no official reason ever put forward as to why this formidable alliance was ended so abruptly.
Stoute To The Rescue
Fallon moved on to the Sir Michael Stoute stable and once again the big winners flowed as this top-class jockey again showed that he has few peers when it comes to riding horses. He rode his first English 2000 Guineas winner on Kings Best for his new boss in the year 2000, with Daliapour taking the Coronation Cup at Epsom the following month. However, at Royal Ascot that year, Kieren suffered a horrible fall and his injuries ruled him out of the rest of the season. Indeed, there was a time when it was feared that he may have to give up riding altogether.
Thankfully, Fallon bounced back to action in 2001 and soon showed that he was as good as ever. Victories on Medicean in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury and the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown followed, while Golan gave him his second consecutive English 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. 2001 was also the year that he won his fourth Champion Jockey title with 166 winners, while the following year saw more big-race success with Golan in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot and Islington in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood. 2003 and 2004 were also good to Kieren as he enjoyed great wins on the likes of Russian Rhythm (English 1000 Guineas, Coronation Stakes, Nassau Stakes) and Mr Dinos (Ascot Gold Cup), while he also added two Epsom Derbys to his tally on Kris Kin (2003) and North Light (2004). He also struck up a great partnership with Ed Dunlop-trained Ouija Board on whom he won the Epsom and Irish Oaks in 2004, as well as the Breeders Cup Fillies And Mares Turf Classic in America.
Back Home To Ireland
When Jamie Spencer announced that he was quitting his job as first jockey to Aidan O’Brien in January 2005, it was no surprise when his employers turned to Kieren Fallon to take up one of the best jobs in racing. The partnership got off to a terrific start when Footstepsinthesand and Virginia Waters completed a fantastic Classic double in the English 2000 Guineas and 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in the space of 24 hours in early-May. Indeed, over the next two seasons, the O’Brien-Fallon partnership enjoyed tremendous success in big races all round the world. Fallon won his first Irish Derby in 2005 on board the Andre Fabre-trained Hurricane Run before partnering the same horse to land the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October, just one of three Group 1 winners he partnered that memorable afternoon having also scored on Rumplestiltskin in the Prix Marcel Boussac and Horatio Nelson in the Prix Jean Luc Lagardere. Rumplestiltskin also gave him a Moyglare Stud Stakes victory the previous September while George Washington landed the Waterford Wedgwood Phoenix Stakes and the Laing O’Rourke National Stakes.
Success And Trouble In Equal Measures
2006 was a very mixed year for Kieren and while he accumulated more big-race victories on the likes of George Washington (a fourth English 2000 Guineas for him), Alexandrova (Epsom and Irish Oaks) and Dylan Thomas (a second consecutive Irish Derby and a second consecutive Irish Champion Stakes), the year was clouded by controversy as he was banned from riding in Great Britain in July having been charged by the City Of London Police in connection with a long-running investigation into race fixing. There was further woe for Fallon the following November when it emerged that he was found to have failed a drug test after riding in France earlier in the year and he was banned from riding anywhere until June 2007.
When the drug ban had run its course, Fallon made his much-anticipated return to the racecourse at Tipperary on June 7th 2007 and his first ride back was a winning one, with him giving The Bogberry a cool ride to win a maiden. It didn’t take long for Fallon to get back into the Group 1 winner’s enclosure, as just a few weeks later he rode the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Mountain High to success in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and a few days after that he rode the Aidan O’Brien-trained Peeping Fawn to success in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh. Better still was to come for Fallon in September as he rode Dylan Thomas to a memorable second success in the Irish Champion Stakes and a week later he rode the legendary Yeats to a hard-fought success in the Irish St. Leger. That set the scene for the most dramatic of all the situations in Fallon’s colourful career. With his trial for race-fixing due to begin the very next day, Fallon took the mount on Dylan Thomas in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. One can only imagine the thoughts racing around in his head, but Fallon put all his personal worries aside and gave his mount a barn-storming ride on his way to recording a narrow victory, albeit after a lengthy steward’s enquiry left the result unchanged. It was a memorable conclusion to that stage of his riding career and as he would not ride during his trial, the racing public knew it could be the last time they saw Fallon riding in a race for quite a while.
One Trial Ends, Another Ban Starts
The race fixing trial that had hung over Fallon for so long soon descended into farce and just two months after it had commenced, the judge decided the defendants had no case to answer and he directed the jury to find Fallon and all his co-defendants not guilty because of lack of evidence. Fallon’s fans rejoiced that their hero had been exonerated, but the celebrations were short-lived as the very next day it was revealed that Fallon had yet again tested positive for a banned substance whilst riding in France earlier in the year. The result of that positive test was an 18-month worldwide ban that would see him ruled out of race-riding action until September 2009.
The Return Of A Legend
After 18 long months of getting his personal life back together and trying to maintain his fitness by riding track work in America and in Newmarket for Sir Michael Stoute, Fallon made his long-awaited return to race-riding at Lingfield on September 4th 2009. Now a freelancer, Fallon was not short of offers for rides and was soon back to winning ways. Within a fortnight, he had ridden the Jeremy Noseda-trained Strike The Deal to wins in Listed and Group 3 company and he didn’t waste any time returning to the winner’s enclosure at the highest level, riding the Marco Botti-trained Gitano Hernando to success in the Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita. A few weeks later he rode the Mick Channon-trained Music Show to success in the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes at Newmarket. Having made a solid return to action, Fallon was not shy in stating that it was his goal to be Champion Jockey in Britain for the seventh time in 2010 and the anticipation of an all-out war between him and main rival Ryan Moore kept many Flat racing fans excited during the winter months.
2010 saw Fallon come out fighting in his bid to regain his Champion Jockey crown and while he came up well short in that bid and failed to ride any Group 1 winners, his tally of 131 wins was highly-creditable in the circumstances. In fact, with Fallon only really seeming to hit full stride in the latter half of the season, there are certainly hopes that he can make a bold bid to deliver on his ambitions to regain the Champion Jockey title in 2011.
Info supplied by Horse Racing Ireland - Updated January 2011
