Champions Day: Cieren Fallon hitting the heights after proving a quick learner

Cieren Fallon has no intention of being a one-hit wonder. And if he can scale the heights by giving horses no more than one hit then he says it will be a case of so much the better.

Fallon will be crowned champion apprentice on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday little more than two years after sitting on a horse for the first time.

He is racing’s face of the future. A future, he believes, that may not feature the whip for much longer.

“I’m not a fan of hitting horses,” he says. “I like to drive them, get in behind them and push to the line.

“The stick is a big problem in racing nowadays. I like to keep it hands and heels as much as possible. If you can get a horse to win without picking the stick up I think it’s more of an achievement, in itself, than relying on it.

“A lot of young jockeys are more conscious about it. I’ve only had one whip ban and that was really early on and we adjusted that straight away. It’s always been about hands and heels with Michael Tebbutt and Michael Hills [his jockey coaches] and Mr [William] Haggas [his employer] is a real big fan of that.

“I’ll only pick up the stick in the last furlong if needed, otherwise it will be hands and heels. I think that will be the way forward because in a few years we are going to be struggling to use the whip.”

Fallon’s background has been well documented. His Dad, Kieran, known simply to punters as “King Kieran”, was a six-time champion who won 16 Classics during a brilliant but turbulent career, while his mum, Julie, was also a former jockey.

The pair separated when he was young and he grew up in Wigan, about as different to Newmarket as you could imagine. He had no interest in following in their footsteps.

“I gave zero attention to my dad’s career,” he admits. “The only time I’ve really watched him is in the big races on YouTube. I never realised what he was doing.

“I think it will only push me (his father’s achievements) as we are very competitive in everything we do. I always want to beat him, so he has set me good targets to aim for.

“If you want only one championship and one Derby and you achieve that, what do you do next? So I’ve set big targets and goals to keep pushing me all the way and hopefully I can achieve everything he has.”

Fighting talk from an ambitious but humble young man who credits his confident approach to the tutors at St David’s College in Llandudno, north Wales, a boarding and day school which specialises in helping youngsters with dyslexia.

“The boarding school was a real big help to me,” he say. “I’ve got dyslexia, so the lessons were a bit shorter and classes smaller. You got a lot more help and one-to-ones twice a day.

“I was quiet and shy but they brought out the best in me and grew my confidence. They helped me speak to people and be quite open, plus helped with reading and writing.

“They played a big part in me growing up and I’ve got a lot of time for them. I still speak to a few of teachers there and have got a good connection.”

Racing and thoroughbreds remain something of a novelty, and his achievement in being champion apprentice is even more remarkable when you consider that Haggas, who cannot speak more highly of him, has provided just one of the 50 winners that have carried him to the title.

“I’ve always been quite sporty – I must have done every sport you could think of growing up and the only thing I didn’t do was riding and I thought one morning when I woke up (at the age of 17) I wanted to give it a go,” he says.

“It was just by seeing a few pictures on the wall in the house and I thought, ‘I want to try that, as it looks good’. I rang dad and he brought me down here (Newmarket) and I went to the British Racing School and Mr Haggas’ yard and built it from that.

“Mum was very surprised, and nervous, but she was happy that I had got my qualifications behind me just in case, as we all know what can happen. She was 50-50 on the idea but supported me all the way.

“He (his father) was more shocked than anyone as it was out of a surprise phone call. He was happy inside, he didn’t really show it at the time but he has been very supportive and helped me along the way.”

He added: “I called Mr Haggas and asked if there was a job available for me. That was on a Sunday and he said ‘yes, start Monday’. I started off riding the hack, the pony, for about two weeks and then after that he stepped me onto a racehorse.

“Mr Haggas looked after me really well from the start. Everything I have done has been with his help and he is the one who has got me to the stage I am at now. He’s a great mentor.”

Tebbutt and Hills also come in for praise, plus his agent, Phil Shea, and Haggas’ wife, Maureen. He gives his family credit time and again, including his sisters, Natalie and Brittany, who live in Dubai.

Brittany is his twin, born 20 minutes before him, and he says: “We sometimes get the same instinct – say if we meet someone new we will have the same impression. She’s always texting or ringing me. And if I’m ever feeling upset she will kind of know and randomly send a message asking if I’m OK. It’s strange, a twin thing.”

Fallon’s first winner was little more than a year ago and this year was supposed to be all about small steps and education. But the pupil, a natural, has been a quick learner and that has swept him eight winners ahead of Sean Davis in the battle to be champion apprentice despite having far fewer rides.

Highlights have been triumphs at Glorious Goodwood, in the Portland and in the Old Borough Cup, plus a treble at Ffos Las in September that included a victory on Good Impression, who had previously been a maiden after 24 starts.

“When I first started the aim this year was to ride at all of the racetracks, learn those racetracks, ride for as many trainers as I could, get connections with those trainers and build on that,” he said.

“But I had a real good month in July, 16 winners, a treble and a couple of doubles and it put me one off the lead. We were always going to take it as it comes, but luckily, the winners kept coming.”

“I want to achieve more than my dad and being champion apprentice would be one thing he never managed and I’d be able to wind him up about it!”

Inevitably, conversations and questions end up coming back to Fallon Sr, who was a flawed genius.

“He made a lot of mistakes and he’s there to make sure I don’t make the same mistakes,” Cieren says. “I’ve got a very strong family supporting me and I’m pretty sure I won’t make the mistakes he has done. I’ll learn from them and hopefully it will only make me a better person and a better rider.”

Fallon Jr does not drink and prefers the gym as a tonic, rather than a gin and tonic. This winter he will head to America for a three-month working holiday to gain more experience and next year Haggas has promised to support him.

But first comes a Champions Day ride on Commander Cole, an outsider for the closing Balmoral Handicap.

“I get the biggest buzz out of riding winners on horses who are not expected to win,” he reveals.

And punters have a new King Cieran to cheer.