Fallon set for spot of freelancing

13 April 2012

With Kieren Fallon and Sir Michael Stoute going their separate ways, a new era dawns in the career of the enigmatic champion jockey elect. One which could see him taking on the mantle of Lester Piggott as the most sought after freelance rider in the sport.

Fallon has proved, time and time again, that he is the best in the business when on board a racehorse, just like Piggott in his heyday when no other jockey felt safe when big races came around and the 'Long Fellow' was without a mount. In fact, the two of them have much in common. Piggott was taciturn and relied on his riding to do his talking for him. Fallon is the same.

The likeness does not stop there. Both have been through the 'bad boy' stage where they fell foul of racing's establishment, Piggott with his win-at-all-costs style in his youth and Fallon with a six-month ban for pulling another jockey off his horse seven years back.

The benefits of being number one in a powerful stable like Stoute's can have its drawbacks as well as its benefits. Being claimed for one of the yard's lesser lights when there is a smart horse up for grabs elsewhere, can be a bit galling for someone who is due to become top jockey for the fourth time.

The racing world will be Fallon's oyster next Flat season, and whenever Group races are mentioned, his name will come up, seeing as he will have no ties to limit his choice. When Piggott split from the great Noel Murless stable, many gloomy pundits felt that he would live to regret it. He never did, and it proved to be his most lucrative period.

Piggott revelled in the role of lone wolf stalking top rides and 'jocking off' his colleagues left right and centre. With two weeks to go to the Epsom Derby and with no booked ride, Piggott was feared by riders who had fancied mounts lined up.

Fallon, who similarly keeps his own counsel, will be aware that he has now become racing's hottest property, although he has gone through two of the country's most powerful stables, having departed from Henry Cecil's fold before joining Stoute. The extra opportunities available to him will more than make up for the loss of a valuable retainer. The way Fallon battled back to fitness after his career was threatened by a hideous fall from Alhawa at Royal Ascot last June, revealed the gritty resolve that has served him so well in claiming his enormous amount of last-gasp victories.

Being his own man will suit Fallon down to the ground - in truth, he has never been anything else.

He blames pressure from Stoute owners as one reason for the break, but for every owner who wouldn't have him on their horse there are a dozen who will when he is on the market. The late Lord Carnarvon criticised his riding of Flight of Fancy at York earlier this term, but Fallon soon put that behind him.

Shrugging off brickbats is second nature to the County Clare-born individualist.

Fallon is on 161 winners for the season so far with not many racing days left, and looks sure to hold nearest challenger Kevin Darley, who is 11 behind him.

Nothing succeeds like success, and the tag of Champion Jockey is everything in the Sport of Kings.

It means that in a hectic season a rider has been almost everywhere in the British Isles in pursuit of the prestigious title.

Fallon was hoping to scale down his relentless hunt for winners next term while still in the hot seat for Stoute.

But now that position is over, expect him to go all out to lift the Championship again in 2002.

Some would point to 46 winners for his stable and eight big-race scores, including Golan in our 2000 Guineas, as a justifiably excellent tally for a jockey to be satisfied with.

Yet Stoute, insatiable for Group One glory and having to settle for being in the shadow of wonderboy Aidan O'Brien, who will end up top of the British trainers' table as well as the Irish list, is not happy to finish second in anything.

The parting of the ways between Fallon and Stoute - confirmed by the latter today - signifies the end of one of racing's great partnerships.

Stoute, who also has stated that he will not have a retained stable jockey next season and will still put Fallon up on some of his runners, indicates that there is still respect between them.

And what is even more important is that Fallon retains the respect of the punter as well.

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Fallon set for spot of freelancing

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