Kieren Fallon

Kieren Francis Fallon (born 22 February 1965 in Crusheen, County Clare, Ireland) is a retired Irish professional flat racing jockey and was British Champion Jockey six times.

Kieren Fallon
Kieren Fallon on Start Right at Goodwood in 2010.
OccupationJockey
Born (1965-02-22) 22 February 1965
Crusheen, County Clare, Ireland
Career wins2253 wins
Major racing wins
2,000 Guineas Stakes (2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2014)
1,000 Guineas Stakes (1997, 1999, 2003, 2005)
Epsom Derby (1999, 2003, 2004)
Epsom Oaks (1997, 1999, 2004, 2006)
Arlington Million (2005)
Racing awards
British flat racing Champion Jockey 6 times (1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003)
Significant horses
Golan

Stable jockey to Henry Cecil

In 1997, Fallon became the stable jockey for Henry Cecil, one of Britain's leading trainers. In May 1997 he recorded his first Classic win when taking the 1000 Guineas on the Cecil-trained filly Sleepytime. Cecil called him "a very hard worker" and a "Group One Jockey" while Richard Edmondson, writing in The Independent, praised Fallon's riding ability while pointing out his poor disciplinary record.[1] Both sides of Fallon's character were soon evident as he was given a ten-day ban for his riding in a race in Italy, which he successfully had postponed to ride in The Oaks, which he won on Reams of Verse for Cecil.[2] Fallon ended the season with 202 wins and his first Champion Jockey title.

Fallon retained the Jockeys' Championship for the next two seasons, riding more than two-hundred winners on each occasion. In 1999 he won his first Derby when he rode the Cecil-trained Oath to victory at Epsom and followed up by winning the Oaks on Ramruma for the same stable. Less than two months later Fallon was dismissed as Cecil's stable jockey for reasons which were never fully explained.[3]

Stable jockey to Michael Stoute

Following his dismissal, Fallon rode as a freelance jockey, riding for many top owners and trainers, before becoming stable jockey to the powerful stable of Michael Stoute. During his time with Stoute, Fallon rode the winners of many important races including successive runnings of the 2000 Guineas with King's Best and Golan. Between these two victories, Fallon lost his Champion Jockey title after a serious arm injury sustained in a fall in June 2000 at Royal Ascot[4] forced him to miss several months race-riding. The accident came shortly after a riding ban prevented him from riding in the Derby.

Fallon's post at the Stoute stable came to an end in November 2001, when Stoute announced that some of his main owners did not want to use Fallon as a jockey for their horses, making his position untenable.[5] Despite having no formal connection with the stable, Fallon continued to ride major winners for Stoute including the Derby winners Kris Kin in 2003 and North Light in 2004.

Allegations of "Conspiracy to Defraud"

In the spring of 2004 the News of the World newspaper made allegations of race fixing against Fallon. He was due to appear before the Jockey Club later in the year to answer the allegations when on 1 September 2004, he was arrested as part of a police investigation into the alleged fixing of over 80 races in the previous two years. On 15 December 2004 the Jockey Club discontinued its investigation into the allegations.

On 3 July 2006, Fallon was charged along with seven other people for conspiring to defraud the Internet betting exchange Betfair. Fallon was banned from riding in the UK until his trial was over, but was still able to race in the Republic of Ireland.[6]

On 8 October 2007, his trial on charges of race-fixing began at the Old Bailey court in London. On 7 December 2007, 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.[7][8] His suspension from British racing was lifted with immediate effect.

Stable jockey to Aidan O'Brien

In February 2005 Fallon accepted the post of first jockey to Aidan O'Brien's powerful Ballydoyle stable.[9] His new career began impressively, with a win on Footstepsinthesand in the 2000 Guineas. By the end of the season he had recorded further important wins on horses such as Yeats, George Washington and Oratorio. Fallon's 2006 ban from riding in England curtailed his opportunities, but more important wins followed for the Ballydoyle team, notably on the 2007 European Horse of the Year Dylan Thomas. Fallon's position with O'Brien ended with his 18-month worldwide ban imposed by the French racing authorities in January 2008.

Positive tests

On 29 November 2006 French racing authority France Galop suspended Fallon for six months after testing positive for a metabolite of a prohibited substance after riding at Chantilly on 9 July 2006. The ban ran from 7 December 2006 to 6 June 2007. On 8 December 2007, it came out that Fallon had tested positive again for a banned substance on 19 August 2007 at Deauville Racecourse in France.[10] On 25 January 2008 Fallon received an 18-month riding suspension for this offence. He resumed race riding at Lingfield Park on 4 September 2009.[11]

Return as freelance

The 2010 Flat racing season saw Kieren Fallon employed largely by trainers Luca Cumani, Mark Johnston and Kevin Ryan. Although major wins were less frequent, Fallon had success, riding 140 winners in 2010 and 154 in 2011. In the latter season he finished third in the Jockeys' championship behind Paul Hanagan.[12]

Personal life

Fallon has three children with his ex-wife Julie: Natalie Ann Fallon (b. 1994), and twins Brittany Michelle and Cieren Richard Fallon (b. 1998). Cieren has also become a jockey and won his first race at Leicester in 2018.[13] He won the British flat racing Champion Apprentice title in 2019[14] and won his first Group 1 race in July 2020 when he rode Oxted, trained by Roger Teal, to victory in the July Cup at Newmarket.[15]

As of 2010, Fallon writes a column in the Racing Post Weekender during the flat season.

In July 2016 Fallon announced that he had been diagnosed with depression and had decided to retire from racing.[16]

Career wins in Great Britain

* = Champion Jockey

  • 1991 – 29
  • 1992 – 45
  • 1993 – 60
  • 1994 – 47
  • 1995 – 92
  • 1996 – 136
  • 1997 – 202 *
  • 1998 – 204 *
  • 1999 – 202 *
  • 2000 – 59
  • 2001 – 166 *
  • 2002 – 149 *
  • 2003 – 221 *
  • 2004 – 200
  • 2005 – 70
  • 2006 – 27
  • 2007 – 0
  • 2008 – 0
  • 2009 – 50
  • 2010 – 140
  • 2011 – 154
  • 2012 – 87
  • 2013 – 62
  • 2014 – 62
  • 2015 - 10
  • 2016 - 7

Sources: jockeysroom.com (1991–2001), racingpost.co.uk (2002–present)

Major wins

Great Britain

Ireland

Australia

  • A J Moir Stakes – (1) – California Dane (2006)
  • Hong Kong Jockey Club Plate – (1) – Polar Bear (2006)

France

Germany

Hong Kong

Italy

United Arab Emirates

United States

See also

References
  1. Richard Edmondson reports from Newmarket (5 May 1997). "Racing: Dream run for Sleepytime – Sport". London: The Independent. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  2. Greg Wood reports from Epsom (7 June 1997). "Racing: Fallon's day in the field of Reams – Sport". London: The Independent. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  3. "Racing: Fallon in dark over dismissal – Sport". London: The Independent. 7 August 1999. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  4. Horse Racing (23 June 2000). "Royal Ascot: Godolphin in a sweat after Tara's gold rush". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  5. Independent Woman (1 November 2001). "Fallon and Stoute end partnership – Sport". Independent.ie. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  6. "Fallon and other jockeys in court". BBC News. 17 July 2006.
  7. Hines, Nico; Oneill, Sean (7 December 2007). "Kieren Fallon racefixing charges thrown out". The Times. London. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  8. "Plot claims 'like Dick Francis'". BBC News. 6 November 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 March 2005. Retrieved 3 January 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Fallon's B sample tests positive". BBC News. 17 December 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  11. Armytage, Marcus (4 September 2009). "Kieren Fallon finishes second in first race of British racing comeback". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  12. "Hanagan hangs on to jockey title". BBC News. 5 November 2011.
  13. "Cieren Fallon: Son of six-time champion jockey Kieren wins first race". BBC. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  14. Lysaght, Cornelius (18 October 2019). "Cieren Fallon: Young jockey is following in his father Kieren's footsteps". BBC Sport.
  15. "July Cup: Oxted wins at Newmarket for Cieren Fallon". BBC Sport. 11 July 2020.
  16. "Kieren Fallon retires from racing owing to mental health issues". The Guardian. 4 July 2016.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Jamie Spencer		 Ballydoyle retained jockey
2005-2007		 Succeeded by
Johnny Murtagh
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