Fallon ban will have broader ramifications

Racing: It takes no more than five minutes in the company of Kieren Fallon to appreciate that he lives to ride racehorses. He has known little since his teenage years, and it is the one thing that, thanks to an exceptional talent, he is supremely well-qualified to do. .

To Fallon, horse racing in general, and the jockey's role in it in particular, are little short of an obsession

Now, unless his appeal to the British Horseracing Regulatory Authority (HRA) is successful, he will be banned from riding there until his trial on charges of conspiracy to defraud Betfair punters, which might not start for another 12 months.

Ireland's racing programme alone is a thin alternative for a workaholic like Fallon, who pines for the track on days he is not riding.

But how many days a year now will he get the racing he needs? And if he is cleared of the charges against him when the case finally reaches court, will he still have a career to return to anyway?

In the immediate future, there must be a chance, at least, that other racing authorities will follow Britain's lead and decline to allow Fallon on to their territory. That could have a serious effect on his retainer to ride for Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle stable, a contract which, as the HRA panel which decided to ban him acknowledged, must already be at risk in any case.

Fallon, after all, is retained for his big-race brilliance. There is not much point in keeping him under contract if he can, say, ride a horse to win the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial, but cannot ride the same horse in the Derby at Epsom a few weeks later.

John Magnier, the ultimate owner of both Ballydoyle and the Coolmore Stud, was rich in his praise for Fallon after Sunday's win on Dylan Thomas in the Irish Derby, but he is one of the sharpest businessmen on the turf.

Darren Williams and Fergal Lynch, the jockeys who, like Fallon, are now banned in Britain, are expected to be compensated under the jockeys' insurance scheme. Fallon, as an Irish-based jockey, will not get the same treatment, though he is, of course, a millionaire already thanks to his talent.

It is not losing money that will hurt Fallon most, though, but rather the loss of regular involvement at the highest level of the sport. That, and seeing other jockeys on "his" horses. Johnny Murtagh will take over from Fallon on Aussie Rules in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown today, and as a Classic-winning jockey for Ballydoyle, Murtagh may now be in line for many more outstanding rides.

There was no comment on Fallon's suspension from Coolmore Stud last night.

Guardian Service