Kieren Fallon free to return to raceriding from September 2009
Kieren Fallon will be free to ride in races again from September 2009, when his 18-month ban by France Galop for cocaine use expires.
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) today (Friday 28 November) announced that it would be taking no further disciplinary against the six-time champion jockey at the end of its investigation into the alleged laying of 27 horses in 2003-4.
The 27 races took place between 30 September 2003 and 14 April 2004. Nineteen of the horses were ridden by Fallon, 5 by Dean McKeown and 3 by Dean Mernagh.
The BHA concluded that none of the jockeys will be disciplined further as none are currently licensed to race in UK. But if they wish to ride again then they must all apply to the BHA to be relicensed.
If he wants to return to raceriding, Fallon will have to complete an extensive drug testing and assessment programme as well as gaining a favourable report from the BHA medical team. He has also agreed to attend training on inside information.
A statement from the BHA said that it had “given considerable weight to admissions made by Fallon in relation to the past and his willingness to accept a rigorous regime to ensure he is, and remains, both drug free and compliant with the Rules of Racing regarding the use of inside information”.
Fallon also admitted that his attitude to inside information in the past had been “reckless” and that he had been “too free with such information and careless about whom he passed it to”.
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Bruce Bennett and sons Mark and Lloyd, and 4 other non-licensed individuals who are alleged to have done the laying, have all refused or failed to co-operate with the investigation and the BHA have now begun the process to exclude them from licensed premises.
Mernagh and McKeown, who are not currently licensed, would have to prove they are “fit and proper” to be able to return the sport.
McKeown is currently banned until November 2012. In an a separate investigation in October he was found guilty of conspiracy and corruption as well as intentionally failing to run 4 horses to their merits.
And on 4 November, while awaiting the full results of the decision on these charges he was found guilty of not running a horse to its merits at Southwell and banned immediately.
Fallon and five others — including jockeys Fergal Lynch and Darren Williams — were cleared of race fixing charges in a trial at the Old Bailey last December.
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A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.