This article is from page 79 of the 2007-04-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 79 JPG
CLARE’S most prolific jockey, Ki- eran Fallon issued a battlecry this week when he said he was raring to go with the weeks ticking down to his return to the racecourse in June. The six time champion jockey will be allowed race in Britian in early summer having failed a drugs test in France last year.
At present, his licence has been suspended pending a corruption case set to be heard in the autumn.
In the interim, the Clare man is keeping himself fit and ticking over. The break from competitive action may even have sharpened his desire and could prolong his time in the saddle.
‘Towards the end I wasn’t riding as sharp as I can,” he said. “I rode some bad races. In a way, this time might work to my advantage. I had started to feel a little bit bored. I was only concentrating on the big races.”
His omission from the sport at
the moment isn’t the first time he’s courted controversy. In 1994 he was banned for six months after pulling another rider from a horse but his time away has always driven him on to further success. Since then, he’s had major wins on Kris Kin, Ouya Board and Alexandrova.
He said once he gets back to racing he’s going to appreciate the experi- ence a lot more for his absence. “I’m not using any energy now,’ he add- ed. “Maybe because of that I might get an extra year or two more than I would have done had I been going all over the place.”
Fallon concedes that there were moments when he began to worry.
“T was worried at the start,” he said. ‘For one, I didn’t think I would have a job. But now I feel I have so much to look forward to. I have really good people around me and I can’t wait to get back in June.”
He hasn’t long more to wait and racing will be more colourful and competitive because of him.