UK Champion Apprentice Cieren Fallon Gearing Up for Gulfstream Debut

[Wandering Eyes]

Cieren Fallon could have stayed home in England and undoubtedly won races in bunches at the all-weather tracks that operate there in the winter. But he didn’t see how that would help him accomplish his long-term goal, to further develop and polish his skills as he prepares to become a journeyman rider. And that’s why he came to Gulfstream Park.

The apprentice with a famous racing name and the title of 2019 champion apprentice in Great Britain to his credit has been in South Florida since early November and the 20-year-old bug plans on riding in his first race in the U.S. before the year is over.

“I definitely want to work on the ‘clock inside my head’ and my timing,” Fallon said. “For a jockey, it’s important to know how quick you are going. That was a big part of my dad’s career. Every young jockey or apprentice that has come here out of England has gone back to England and been very successful. I talked to my dad about this and he was behind my plan. I’d like to come here every winter.”

His father is, of course, Kieren Fallon, the now retired jockey who was the overall champion rider in Britain six times and the former stable rider for the Ballydoyle operation. Cieren’s mother, Julie Bowker, is also a former rider. Despite that pedigree, the younger Fallon showed virtually no interest in racing while growing up. He lived with his mother far removed from racing in the English town of Wigam and attended boarding school in Wales. He paid little attention to his father’s career. Rather than devote his time to racing, Cieren concentrated on soccer and running.

In 2018, he had a sudden change of heart and called his father to give him the news. The elder Fallon instructed him to enroll in the British Racing School in Newmarket and, after completing the course there Cieren (despite the different spellings, father and son pronounce their first names the same), made his riding debut at Thirsk Race Course on Aug. 31, 2018.

Getting a late start to the British flat season, Fallon rode just four winners in 2018. He thought that 2019 would be better but more of a learning experience. Not only did he have his father advising him, but he was signed on to ride for top trainer William Haggas. He had not planned on even competing for the apprentice championship, but found himself in the thick of the race after having 16 winners in July.

“The first full season was to gain more experience,” Fallon said. “I had only sat on a horse for the first time less than two years earlier. The thought was to build on my connections and to learn to ride at different sorts of tracks. I had really good month in July with 16 winners. My riding started to tidy up and I saw from then on that I could be champion apprentice and it gave me a kick in the belly.”

Fallon had a ways to go to pass leading apprentice Sean Davis, but he stayed hot through the remainder of the summer and fall and finished the year with 62 wins from 478 mounts.
“Every month after (July) I was in double figures and I won the championship, which was a big surprise,” he said.

Being the son of Kieren Fallon has certainly helped, but it has also put the younger Fallon in the awkward position of having to discuss his father’s many missteps. The elder Fallon made as many headlines off the track as on, including an arrest in 2004 after he was part of police investigation looking into race fixing. In 2008, he was banned for 18 months by French racing authorities after he tested positive for a banned substance. Cieren Fallon isn’t afraid to address his father’s problems and has a unique take on them, that his father has been a good mentor who has learned from his mistakes and dishes out valuable advice on how important it is to always do the right thing. Those who know both aren’t worried about Cieren, who does not drink and is devoted to physical fitness. They describe him as grounded and being “nothing like his father.”

Whether positively or negatively, the Fallon legacy carries a lot less weight in Florida than it does in Europe. At Gulfstream, Cieren will have to make a name for himself. His first step was to go to work for trainer Christophe Clement. He spends every morning galloping horses for Clement at Payson Park and the fellow European has promised to ride him when he is ready. Because the scale of weights is higher in Europe than it is in the U.S., Fallon arrived a bit too heavy when he came to Florida. He says he has gotten his weight down to 115 and wants to shed two more pounds before accepting his first U.S. mounts.

Once he starts riding, he will be in the unusual position of wanting to succeed but not be too successful.

“One of the main reasons I came here is I still have the bug left back in England,” he said. “It’s different there so far as how you lose the bug. It comes down to having a certain amount of winners and I have only 19 winners left for my three-pound claim back in England. I thought it would be best to come here, save my claim, and still have the three-pound allowance when I go back. That will hep me kick start my season over there and progress from there. It would be nice to have a few winners here, but it’s more about having the experience of riding in America, which I think will do me a world of good.”

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