Americans forced to eat humble pie

It took a pinhead and a moron to dismantle the barriers to British and Irish success here in California.

Those were the terms used to describe Kieren Fallon and Michael Kinane by American media pundits after last year's Breeders' Cup, but the hardest men in the weighing-room roared back in unforgettable fashion to bury the theory that home advantage is crucial once the temperature steams into the 90's.

Fallon was slated for taking Islington on what one writer referred to as "a magical mystery tour" in last year's Filly & Mare Turf, while Kinane's nightmare passage on Rock Of Gibraltar in the Mile sowed seeds for a whispering campaign about his position as stable jockey to Aidan O'Brien.

Humble pie was on the menu in American press rooms at Santa Anita on Saturday. The contrasting riding of Fallon and Kinane with the more streamlined style of their American rivals proved one of the highlights.

Fallon was demonic on Islington, producing a powerpacked finish to rival anything he will see during his scheduled appearance at the premiere of the hit racing movie Seabiscuit in Leicester Square tonight.

Kinane admitted that High Chaparral is "the sort of horse who always digs a bit deeper if you drag it out of him".