Understudy eyes top role

Interview/ Seamus Heffernan: Richard Edmondsontalks to the jockey who is favourite to fill Kieren Fallon's boots at Ballydoyle.

In the half-light of the field of dreams which is Sha Tin racecourse one jockey could have been excused for letting his mind wander to great possibilities. As Seamus Heffernan cantered on the grass track aboard Aidan O'Brien's Scorpion on Thursday his imagination must easily have slipped forward to tomorrow's prestigious Hong Kong Vase.

It is but a single race - albeit a Group One contest with lashings of prize-money attached - but it carries a possible life-changing connotation for the jockey. If Heffernan can come up with a calm and assured performance it will be evidence that he is the pick as next stable jockey to the superb band of Aidan O'Brien's horses at Ballydoyle.

With Kieren Fallon sinking deeper into a morass of controversy, the loyal lieutenant in the stable that is Heffernan has been put forward as a persuasive candidate for the job.

"We're talking about the best jockey job in the world here," said the 34-year-old. "I've been with Aidan a long time and I've been second jockey these last few years and with Kieren not being able to ride I've stepped in with a few more opportunities. It would be nice to land it and then holding on to it would be another thing altogether. But let's get it first. Personally I think I'm good enough to ride the best horses around.

"I've heard plenty about it (the job), but no one has said anything to me yet. What I can say is that I'm available, but then that might go for a fair few jockeys."

It has been easy to characterise Heffernan as a bit-part player, the sort of figure who if beamed down with Capt James T Kirk at the beginning of a Star Trek episode would not last much longer than the opening titles. Yet that ignores the esteem with which he is held at Ballydoyle, principally by O'Brien himself.

The bookmakers at least believe this is Heffernan's best chance yet to catch the most fragrant of bouquets as it comes flying through the air once again. William Hill make him favourite to inherit the most sought-after job available in the weighing room.

There are, however, crosses in some boxes. Heffernan has been in the Ballydoyle corps de ballet for so long that elevation to number one might come as a surprise. Certainly, his name is not sprinkled with the same stardust as previous incumbents such as Mick Kinane and Jamie Spencer. It could also be, of course, that the recent statement that Ballydoyle would, for the time being, be pursuing a policy of using the best available will be stretched until the time that Fallon is able to return. Heffernan has not been looking the other way as Fallon has gone about the business of proving himself the best of modern riders. He has also observed the predecessors. "When you work with professionals like Kinane, Spencer and Fallon you cannot help but learn," adds Heffernan.

"Mick is probably the most professional jockey I've ever ridden against. He doesn't have any weight problems, he has nerves of steel, he can ride from front or back and he looks good. He's the complete deal.

"While Jamie hasn't got a lot of experience on his side he knows a lot about race-riding and the form. If he makes a mistake he's the first to hold his hand up.

"Kieren can be as strong or quiet as you like. He's a master at bringing a horse along (at home) slowly and getting it to peak for the biggest race of its career. And, of course, he's ice cool. Me? I'm not overstylish, but I do like to think of myself as professional."

What others think of Seamus Heffernan will be determined in the coming weeks. Soon we will know if the executive at the Coolmore-Ballydoyle empire can see him as their ambassador.

"I wouldn't think of the job as pressure," he says. "There's just as much pressure riding a smaller trainer's best horse round one of the gaff tracks. I would see it more as a privilege."

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