Exile reignites the desire as Fallon chases another blue riband victory

For, unlike most of his weighing room colleagues, he has experienced Flat racing's ultimate thrill – winning the Epsom Derby, the sport's blue riband race.

And not just once. His three triumphs in the premier Classic is a record that is only equalled, among contemporary riders, by Johnny Murtagh's hat-trick of successes.

It is why Fallon, the most naturally gifted horseman of his generation, is uniquely qualified to reveal what it takes to win an Investec-sponsored Derby as the mercurial Irishman returns to Epsom for the first time in four years.

To the six-times champion jockey, the protracted preliminaries – the saddling of the horse and then the tension of the pre-race parade – are as critical as a horse's position descending Tattenham Corner, and the turn for home.

"You need a horse that is very well balanced," Fallon told the Yorkshire Post. "As a jockey, you just need plenty of confidence – and the ability to impart that confidence to the horse.

"It's a very tough track and you need to know when to kick; it took me a while to work it out.

"From my point of view, the preliminaries – and they do drag on – are the worst. Horses jig jog. They get sweaty. The noise. Can cost you the race, you know.

"The horses, they may be worth millions, but they are only babies"

Fallon speaks from personal experience. In 1999, he was aboard the Henry Cecil-trained Oath who was sweating excessively in the paddock.

The horse was fractious. So, too, was the jockey – he could see the prospect of a first Derby win slipping away with every passing second. It was why, he says, he made a split-second decision to break away from the parade and canter Oath to the start in his own time.

The result? A calm horse with the strength to overpower Daliapour in the final furlong – and leave Fallon with a 1,000 fine from the stewards for ignoring the pre-race protocol. "The best grand I've spent," he laughs. "And I'll do it again."

It is an anecdote that epitomizes the 45-year-old – a natural talent whose lack of respect for authority has, invariably, proved to be his undoing.

As our conversation begins, he appears nonchalant about the race – he rides the Godolphin second string Al Zir – and questions the winning jockey's share of the 1.25m purse.

But, as he reflects on Oath, and then his back-to-back triumphs in 2003 and 2004 aboard the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Kris Kin and North Light, Fallon, an intensely private individual, opens up.

"Look, it's one of the greatest races in the world. I've won it three times – and would love to do so again. You look back now and realise that they were special – and not just another race," he admits. "Of the three, North Light was the most impressive. A big strong horse who you had to get into a good rhythm. One in a million. Easy.

"I knew before the Dante at York that he was special."

Unlike six years ago when this quietly-spoken individual was at his prime as a big-race jockey, Fallon endured an anxious wait this week to discover the identity of his first Derby mount since 2006 – a race that ended in tragedy when the Aidan O'Brien-trained Horatio Nelson broke down in the final furlong.

Neither Luca Cumani or Mick Channon, his two primary trainers this year, have runners in the Classic which left Fallon in the unaccustomed position of looking for a spare ride.

The call eventually came from Sheikh Mohammed's racing operation and the offer to ride Al Zir who was third in last October's Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster before finishing a disappointing ninth in last month's Stan James 2000 Guineas.

"We're happy to use Kieren, he's a very good jockey. It's great to use him and he rides Epsom very well. He's won many races there," said trainer Saeed bin Suroor.

"He's a great jockey and he's in good form now."

Fallon appreciates the vote of confidence as he becomes re-established after a three-year absence following a race-fixing trial – he was exonerated – and then a ban for taking prohibited substances.

"Al Zir was one of the best two-year-olds last year and is a nice big staying type," he says. "I can't see that he won't get a mile-and-a-half and it's good to get a ride for Godolphin; hopefully I can do something for them.

"I may have a word with Frankie Dettori, whose ridden Al Zir. I may not. I'll do my thing and he'll do his, but Epsom is a pretty lucky track for me so..."

It is another side to Fallon – the individual who does not mix with his rivals.

He prepared for yesterday's Oaks and today's Derby by jetting off to America after speaking to the Yorkshire Post on Wednesday morning to ride Kinsale King on the gallops.

The winner of the $2m Golden Shaheen at Meydan Racecourse in March after overcoming foot problems, Fallon will ride the superstar in this month's Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.

"Well worth the trip," he says. "He's a good ride, and it's nice to do your own thing."

Initially, Fallon began by suggesting that his goal was to regain his jockey's title – which he last won in 2003 – rather than big races like the Derby.

He appears to have altered his outlook, not least because of the stern challenge being posed by Malton-based Paul Hanagan, the current title leader.

"I'm my own man now. Racing's wild. I don't mix with the lads now," he says. "All that matters is riding and my three kids. The break has done me good; made me hungry for the sport again."

Asked whether he would encourage them to ride, he pauses. "A very difficult question. Two are girls, but maybe the boy. Maybe."

His biggest regret? Another pause. "There have been a few. Hopefully no more."

Fallon, however, is more forthcoming when he talks about two of the biggest influences on his career – the late Malton trainer Jimmy Fitzgerald, and his longstanding Yorkshire-based agent Dave Pollington.

"Jimmy started everything off for me 20 odd years ago when I came from Ireland," he said. "He held me together when things were tough. He was a legend – very clever, very witty. He was always there when I went off the rails. Without him, I probably wouldn't be in the game. I wish he'd been about more recently, he would have put me straight.

"I've just split with Dave who has wanted a break from things but he's been great to me over the years, getting me so many rides."

As he prepares to jet off to America, Fallon takes one last look at the Derby form book. He is content with Al Zir "a good each way chance".

But there is one horse, he says, that stands out – the aptly-named Midas Touch. It is a horse that he could, conceivably, be riding if he had not lost his job as Coolmore's jockey when his career started spiralling towards oblivion.

"He has good form and a nice action; he doesn't do much at home which means he saves himself for the race," added Fallon. "He's an improving horse, and won Ireland's best trial, the Derrinstown, in the fastest time for 20 years.

"He's the one to beat – and I've just got to work out how."

It will not be for the lack of trying on this reformed character's part – and the best possible advertisement for Kieren Fallon if he can show, on the downs of Epsom, that his own midas touch has returned.