Canny Fallon makes switch in style

KIEREN Fallon rolled back the years with a trademark power-packed ride on Society Rock to land the Betfred Sprint Cup.

It was only the former champion jockey’s second Group One triumph in five years, vindicating the controversial rider’s decision to switch from Mick Easterby’s Hoof It to the James Fanshawe sprinter at York in May.

While Hoof It has disappointed this season – the Yorkshire horse missed Haydock’s feature, part of the Qipco Champions Series – Society Rock showed he is a five-year-old of the highest calibre in this six furlong sprint on firm ground.

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He could, perhaps should, have beaten Australia’s wonderhorse Black Caviar in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot – a poor start under Johnny Murtagh left Society Rock with too much to do.

However, the Haydock field included Ortensia, the second best horse in Australia and the recent winner of York’s Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes.

She could not land a blow under William Buick, beating just one home. It was later reported that she had suffered a badly cut leg and she is unlikely to remain in Britain for next month’s Qipco Champions Day at Ascot.

Cannily, Fallon followed Haydock specialist Bated Breath up the far side. He believed that this was the horse to beat. While James Doyle’s mount did not enjoy a clear passage, the veteran rider waited for a gap and pounced to end Newmarket-based Fanshawe’s Haydock losing streak that stretches back three years.

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He pulled clear of the in-form Gordon Lord Byron by three-quarters of a length, with a luckless Bated Breath back in third.

“He travelled really well and I got all the splits down the rail that I needed,” explained the enigmatic Fallon, who is unlikely to have a Ladbrokes St Leger ride at Doncaster on Saturday which would have been unthinkable five years ago.

“He’s a little terrier and he tries very hard, which is what you need in this type of race.

“I followed James Doyle, on Bated Breath through as I thought he was the horse I had to beat, he gave me a lovely lead through and I was able to pick up on that fast ground.’’

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Fittingly, every rider wore black armbands in tribute to Lord Oaksey, the founder of the Injured Jockeys’ Fund who died last week.

The victory was a welcome boost for Society Rock’s 85-year-old owner Simon Gibson, who watched the race at home; this was his horse’s first victory since landing Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot in 2011.

However, it was even more significant for 47-year-old Fallon whose big race triumphs dried up following the Arc win of Dylan Thomas in October 2007; his infamous race-fixing trial at the Old Bailey began the next day in which he was cleared of all charges.

Despite repeatedly talking up his desire to regain his jockeys’ crown, he has failed to land a significant blow and is 50 winners behind this season’s pace-setter, Richard Hughes. Always a free spirit, his lack of loyalty on occasion has cost him dearly – as illustrated by the upset caused by his decision not to ride the aforementiond Hoof It at York.

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He did return to the big time at Royal Ascot this year, guiding Most Improved to a victory in the Group One St James’s Palace Stakes.

Always regarded as a confidence jockey, Fallon proved this assertion to be an accurate one when, just 35 minutes after Society Rock’s victory, he powered Mark Johnston’s Sir Graham Wade to an unlukely win in the Betfred Borough Cup.

A full mile longer than the Sprint Cup, Fallon followed the Graham Lee-ridden Blue Bajan up the far rail.

When Lee encountered traffic problems on David O’Meara’s veteran, he had nowhere to go. Yet Fallon had time to switch his mount to the outer, drop his whip and then get up to beat Nicky Mackay on Tropical Beat on the line.

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It was vintage Fallon. But will he be on Society Rock when the sprinter reappears? Do not bet on it.

In Ireland, Frankie’s Dettori’s helicopter dash from Haydock paid off when Ed Eunlop’s globetrotting mare Snow Fairy won the Group One Red Mills Irish Champion Stakes.

It completed a luckless day for the aforementioned Buick, his co-pilot. Beaten on Ortensia, Eclipse hero Nathaniel sweated profusely in the preliminaries, putting paid to his chances in the one-and-a-quarter-mile feature.

It is a measure of the horse’s courage that he battled on to finish second.

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The one cosolation for his jockey – and trainer John Gosden – is that the race should put their charge spot on for next month’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe where Nathnaiel is set to resume hostilities with Snow Fairy and Dettori who was deputising for the injured Ryan Moore.

There was also Group One success for Frankel’s trainer Sir Henry Cecil.

His filly, Chachmaidee, was awarded the Matron Stakes in the stewards’ room after being hampered by Duntle, who was first past the post.

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