Born on the 22nd February, 1965, Kieran
Fallon is a retired Irish flat racing jockey, who clocked up an
impressive 2,253 career wins in his time in the saddle. Now in his
fifties, Fallon hails from County Clare and boasts five 2,000 Guineas
Stakes wins, four 1,000 Guineas Stakes wins, three Epsom Derbies,
three Epsom Oaks and a victory in the Arlington Million.
In addition to these impressive wins,
Kieran Fallon would also become British Champion Jockey a remarkable
six times and the early part of his success could be attributed to
his association with leading trainer, Henry Cecil. Whilst in the
Cecil’s stable, Fallon would enjoy a successful time, but the
pairing would come to an abrupt end in 1999, when he was dismissed
for undisclosed reasons. The jockey is known to be a fiery character,
which could have easily led to a disagreement or two and a subsequent
parting of ways.
Rocky Period
After the turn of the century, things
became a little ‘chequered’, with a mixture of winners, injury
and controversy. Now in the Michael Stoute stable, he won the 2,000
Guineas shortly before sustaining an serious arm injury at Ascot
which would ultimately lead to Fallon losing the jockey’s
championship that year.
Controversy then struck in 2004 when
Kieran Fallon was accused of race fixing in a 2 year long trial, but
was subsequently exonerated for lack of evidence. After having been
banned from racing in the UK for the period of the inquest, Fallon
returned to racing immediately after being acquitted.
Continued Controversy
It seemed that trouble was never far
away for Fallon, as the jockey was banned from racing again for six
months for failing a drugs test in 2006, then failing another in
2007. In total, he missed almost two years of racing through
suspension before returning to the saddle in 2009 as a freelance
rider.
With his most successful years behind
him, Fallon retired from racing in 2016, citing depression as the
primary reason. Four or five years of relative underachievement by
his own high standards saw the jockey lose his appetite for the
challenge.
During his career, Kieran Fallon was
always a colourful character and it was ironically the
characteristics that made his successful that ultimately led to his
fall from grace. However, race fans will always have a soft spot for
the mercurial talents of the jockey.
