KIEREN FALLON TERMS ALLEGATIONS A JOKE

Sep 03, 2004

A day after being arrested on charges of race-fixing, champion jockey Kieren Fallon termed the allegations as a "complete joke".

The rider, together with fellow jockeys Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams, plus trainer Karl Burke, was arrested and later bailed on Wednesday as part of an investigation into large scale fixing of horse races. 

Fallon denied involvement in any illegal activity stating that "I make enough money through my percentage of prize money, riding fees and stallion rights". 

"The whole thing is a complete joke. I've done nothing different to what I have done over the last few years. It's not in my nature - I've never done it and I never will.

Fallon also described the questions put to him by the police during his interrogation on Wednesday as "silly" and said that he was quizzed about no particular races during four or five hours of questioning.

Apparently Fallon was asked questions such as "Can you stop a horse by pulling its reins?".

One officer is said to have asked Fallon: "You are renowned for riding a horse very hard. If you didn't ride a horse very hard from the beginning to the end of a race, you aren't doing your job properly, are you?"

Meanwhile the Jockey Club, while not withdrawing the licences of the four professionals who are out on bail has warned that this could be subject to review in the future following a special meeting convened to discuss the case. It was decided that the mere fact of their arrest did not justify suspension of their licence.

They will be allowed to continue riding and in Burke's case training, but their eligibility could come under scrutiny as the investigation proceeds.