Stable Jockey To Henry Cecil
In 1997, Fallon became the stable jockey for Henry Cecil, one of Britain's leading trainers. In May 1997 he recorded his first Classic win when taking the 1000 Guineas on the Cecil-trained filly Sleepytime. Cecil called him "a very hard worker" and a "Group One Jockey" while Richard Edmondson, writing in The Independent, praised Fallon's riding ability while pointing out his poor disciplinary record. Both sides of Fallon's character were soon evident as he was given a ten day ban for his riding in a race in Italy, which he successfully had postponed in order to ride in the Epsom Oaks, which he won on Reams of Verse for Cecil. Fallon ended the season with 202 wins and his first Champion Jockey title.
Fallon retained the Jockeys' Championship for the next two seasons, riding more than two-hundred winners on each occasion. In 1999 he won his first Derby when he rode the Cecil-trained Oath to victory at Epsom and followed up by winning the Oaks on Ramruma for the same stable. Less than two months later Fallon was dismissed as Cecil's stable jockey for reasons which were never fully explained.
Read more about this topic: Kieren Fallon
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