After-effects may linger on

By Alan Conway

Although the Investec Derby has come and gone, the after-effects of the dramatic lead up to the race may linger on.

In hindsight the judicial decision that precluded Kieren Fallon from riding in the Derby should not have come as a surprise. The jockey signed a contract to ride Native Khan in the race and he broke his end of the deal. As the presiding judge said in his summing up, racing is no different to any other sector of society, it must obey the laws.

The rider could have handled the situation better. It is surprising that he would sign a contract to ride Native Khan throughout the season to begin with and back himself into a corner. Native Khan is a fine horse but Fallon must have known that there was a possibility that a better offer would come along, like Recital may have been in the Derby. To sign a contract tying yourself to one horse when you are a freelance seems to be slightly odd.

Even allowing for the contract, maybe the situation could have been resolved earlier if Fallon had spoken up before last Monday when the news broke that he wouldn’t be riding Native Khan. Given that he rode Native Khan twice this season and rode Recital in the Derrinstown at Leopardstown, surely he would have known long before last Monday who was going to be his Derby mount. Native Khan did have the French Open option, and maybe that was the rock on which Fallon’s Epsom strategy perished.

By keeping silent he made things immeasurably worse for himself. It seemed that the bridge with Coolmore was being re-built. Who knows what this incident will do for relations now?

By being offered the ride on Wonders Of Wonder in the Oaks last Friday it seemed that he was slowly securing second place in the ‘best available’ line after Ryan Moore. That could have lasted until last Saturday morning when the most powerful stable in Europe had to search for a jockey to ride their main hope in the Derby. You can understand why Fallon is so keen to re-build his relationship with Coolmore and Ballydoyle, but he just may have been too anxious in this instance. So anxious, in fact, that it may ultimately work against him.

By Alan Conway