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Anyone know where Fallon is - no rides last two days and no booked rides for next week?
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put out a call for ima, he usually issues his sick notes for him...!
Why doesn't he retire gracefully and stop messing owners and trainers about.
Alan Lee Racing Writer of the Year, Commentary
Updated 1 minute ago
This time last year, Kieren Fallon had just ridden his first domestic classic winner since the most public of his troubles began in 2006. Better yet, he had begun an unforeseen association with Godolphin and was anticipating a coveted ride in the Investec Derby on the aptly named True Story. He had confounded us all again.
Fallon’s indestructible nature came to mind when watching the last episode of a series many millions had dreaded ending. In the opening credits of Mad Men, its deeply flawed hero is seen falling from a Manhattan skyscraper, an animation of his tumultuous yet charmed life. “He always comes back,” a fellow character observed during his final, unexplained absence from the workplace.
There are easy comparisons between the fictitious Don Draper and the compellingly real Fallon. Though drawn to crisis and scandal, they defied the gravity of disaster through rare talent and maverick charisma.
Mad Men ended with Draper meditating in a hippie commune, silently imagining the iconic Coke advert. The suggestion was that he never quite let go. Whether the same will be true of Fallon is shrouded in doubt this week. He is 50, frustrated by a shortage of rides and absent without cogent explanation.
Fallon cited a minor injury for standing himself down last Wednesday. Twenty-four hours later, his agent, Simon Dodds, said he would not be riding “for at least the next ten days”. It was a cryptic message that has led many to believe he is about to continue his career in America, where he was reported to be riding out yesterday.
Few sportsmen rise and fall more than once. Fallon has done it countless times and always come bouncing back again. That renaissance last spring was just the latest example. It took a man of extraordinary resilience to survive a criminal trial at the Old Bailey, let alone two lengthy drugs bans.
The second of these was revealed on the day he walked free from court after the collapse of the race-fixing case in which he faced conspiracy charges. As an instance of blundering from frying pan to fire, it could not be bettered.
Nobody, it was widely agreed, would employ him after that. And yet, after 18 months of penance, he returned as a freelance and rode 140 and 154 winners in the two subsequent years.
By the time he won the 2,000 Guineas on Night Of Thunder last May, Fallon was swapping compliments with Saeed bin Suroor, Godolphin’s senior trainer, and riding many of his runners. Like everything in his career, it did not last.
Fallon was magnificent around Epsom, riding its uniquely challenging contours like the king of the funfair. Twice, in 1999 and again in 2004, he achieved the rare double of Oaks and Derby. Only Ryan Moore has managed it since.
For all his imperfections, Fallon will be sorely missed if he does not return for the Derby meeting next week. There are those in the weighing room, though, not quite prepared to believe it yet. “He always comes back,” one said yesterday.
Gleneagles poser adds to Derby drama
Aidan O’Brien has a practised routine when debriefing the media. Invariably, he will thank everyone concerned, underestimate his own role absurdly and offer polite obfuscation about future plans. Just occasionally, though, something piercingly revealing intrudes.
Last Saturday, after Gleneagles had completed the English and Irish 2,000 Guineas double, O’Brien explained why the colt he regards as a specialist miler had been confirmed for the Investec Derby. “I was crossing them all out, and I had a line through him, but the lads said no, leave him in,” he said.
“The lads”, as he likes to call them, are the Coolmore syndicate which owns the horses, employs the masterful trainer and, self-evidently, calls the shots. They enjoy their sport but the motivation for all decisions is business.
Winning the Derby is Coolmore’s priority. They have done it in each of the past three years but this one seems likely to go elsewhere unless they gamble on the stamina of their greatest active asset. The possibility adds a welcome dimension of doubt and drama to the greatest classic.
Updated 1 minute ago
This time last year, Kieren Fallon had just ridden his first domestic classic winner since the most public of his troubles began in 2006. Better yet, he had begun an unforeseen association with Godolphin and was anticipating a coveted ride in the Investec Derby on the aptly named True Story. He had confounded us all again.
Fallon’s indestructible nature came to mind when watching the last episode of a series many millions had dreaded ending. In the opening credits of Mad Men, its deeply flawed hero is seen falling from a Manhattan skyscraper, an animation of his tumultuous yet charmed life. “He always comes back,” a fellow character observed during his final, unexplained absence from the workplace.
There are easy comparisons between the fictitious Don Draper and the compellingly real Fallon. Though drawn to crisis and scandal, they defied the gravity of disaster through rare talent and maverick charisma.
Mad Men ended with Draper meditating in a hippie commune, silently imagining the iconic Coke advert. The suggestion was that he never quite let go. Whether the same will be true of Fallon is shrouded in doubt this week. He is 50, frustrated by a shortage of rides and absent without cogent explanation.
Fallon cited a minor injury for standing himself down last Wednesday. Twenty-four hours later, his agent, Simon Dodds, said he would not be riding “for at least the next ten days”. It was a cryptic message that has led many to believe he is about to continue his career in America, where he was reported to be riding out yesterday.
Few sportsmen rise and fall more than once. Fallon has done it countless times and always come bouncing back again. That renaissance last spring was just the latest example. It took a man of extraordinary resilience to survive a criminal trial at the Old Bailey, let alone two lengthy drugs bans.
The second of these was revealed on the day he walked free from court after the collapse of the race-fixing case in which he faced conspiracy charges. As an instance of blundering from frying pan to fire, it could not be bettered.
Nobody, it was widely agreed, would employ him after that. And yet, after 18 months of penance, he returned as a freelance and rode 140 and 154 winners in the two subsequent years.
By the time he won the 2,000 Guineas on Night Of Thunder last May, Fallon was swapping compliments with Saeed bin Suroor, Godolphin’s senior trainer, and riding many of his runners. Like everything in his career, it did not last.
Fallon was magnificent around Epsom, riding its uniquely challenging contours like the king of the funfair. Twice, in 1999 and again in 2004, he achieved the rare double of Oaks and Derby. Only Ryan Moore has managed it since.
For all his imperfections, Fallon will be sorely missed if he does not return for the Derby meeting next week. There are those in the weighing room, though, not quite prepared to believe it yet. “He always comes back,” one said yesterday.
Gleneagles poser adds to Derby drama
Aidan O’Brien has a practised routine when debriefing the media. Invariably, he will thank everyone concerned, underestimate his own role absurdly and offer polite obfuscation about future plans. Just occasionally, though, something piercingly revealing intrudes.
Last Saturday, after Gleneagles had completed the English and Irish 2,000 Guineas double, O’Brien explained why the colt he regards as a specialist miler had been confirmed for the Investec Derby. “I was crossing them all out, and I had a line through him, but the lads said no, leave him in,” he said.
“The lads”, as he likes to call them, are the Coolmore syndicate which owns the horses, employs the masterful trainer and, self-evidently, calls the shots. They enjoy their sport but the motivation for all decisions is business.
Winning the Derby is Coolmore’s priority. They have done it in each of the past three years but this one seems likely to go elsewhere unless they gamble on the stamina of their greatest active asset. The possibility adds a welcome dimension of doubt and drama to the greatest classic.
Cork Langer Joined: 16 Aug 05
Replies: 31792 23 May 15 14:30
put out a call for ima, he usually issues his sick notes for him...!
Remind me again who is supposed to be the obsessed one?
I thought the OP asked a completely valid question.
Replies: 31792 23 May 15 14:30
put out a call for ima, he usually issues his sick notes for him...!
Remind me again who is supposed to be the obsessed one?
I thought the OP asked a completely valid question.
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