Kieren Fallon: "He's the only horse that would have given Frankel a race"

Kieren Fallon has opened up on his career in and out of the saddle, including how a racecourse incident and subsequent ban led to him moving to America before he returned to great success in Britain, including on a Ballydoyle starlet who was ‘the only horse that would have given Frankel a race’. 

The six-time British Champion Jockey was in the interview chair rather than the saddle recently, as he joined hosts Rishi Persad and Steve Mellish to talk about his rollercoaster career on Racing TV’s ‘Racing Greats’ series. 

Fallon talked fondly about his early years, including getting the phone call to become stable jockey for Sir Henry Cecil and the following season’s Classic wins on Oath in the Derby and Ramruma in the Oaks, however he also recalled how he may never have reached those heights were it not for an earlier incident in which he received a six-month ban for pulling fellow rider Stuart Webster from his horse after a race at Beverley in 1994. 

The now-60-year-old remembered: “He'd come across from an outside draw - for some reason there was a lot more runners than you see today – and it was towards the end of his career, and he was a little bit reckless. 

“He came across me and John Stack, and I nearly went down. I didn't realise he'd [Webster] won the race and all I could think of was trying to see his colours. 

“I didn't actually know it was him at the time but when I went beside him I said, ‘you could have killed us’ and he said to me ‘oh eff off’ and as soon as he said that I saw red and grabbed him; it was stupid. 

“They gave me three months for an altercation in the weighing room and three for dragging him off in public.” 

However, the extended spell on the sidelines allowed Fallon to broaden his horizons, and he was able to continue his career in the saddle across the Atlantic. 

“I ended up going to Rodney Rash the first year and had a really good time; I learned a lot,” Fallon explained. 

“Rodney was really good because I had no clue about times, and he sent me around with the likes of Chris McCarron for the first couple of weeks. 

“I was messing my times up a bit and he [Rash] would be in the stands, and he'd be flicking his cap and going mad. 

"I went to go back to him the following year and he passed away sadly, but it ended up that a friend of mine got me in with Bobby Frankel and the rest was history.”

Upon his return to England, the following years saw Fallon excel for Sir Henry Cecil and then Sir Michael Stoute, however it was that Frankel/Cecil link that would crop up again later in Fallon’s career, as he recalled the high regard in which he held George Washington who won the 2000 Guineas in 2006 before adding the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes later that season. 

Indeed, Fallon still believes that the Aidan O’Brien-trained son of Danehill – who preceded Frankel by five years - was the only horse who could have proven to be a serious challenger to the all-time-great had they raced at the same time. 

“He was electric. He had speed,” Fallon reminisced. 

"I would have loved to have been following Frankel on him; I think he's the only horse that would have given Frankel a race, in my time. 

"When he won the [2000] Guineas he strolled in; I was trying to take him back at the two-furlong pole, but I had to kick on with him. And when he got there, then he used to idle. If he didn't, he would have been as impressive as Frankel was. 

"He was so good.” 

With many other pivotal moments covered in the interview, including Fallon’s association with the staying great Yeats, his famous ride aboard Kris Kin in the 2003 Derby, and Night Of Thunder providing the rider with a final Classic winner at 40/1, it's a must-watch episode; you can catch up with the whole interview by clicking here or visiting our YouTube page.