Fallon fired up for ‘hard’ title battle
Fallon is currently in second place in the championship table, two behind Frankie Dettori, as he chases his seventh title. Seb Sanders is hot on their heels and Daryll Holland is not far behind.
After winning on Raysoot in the Miss Hucklebridge Handicap at Bath yesterday to take his tally to 109, Fallon said: “For five or six years I was well clear and it was boring - there was no excitement there.
“Richard Hughes had a go one year and Daryll had a go last year. But this year it’s going to be hard.
“I think Daryll might struggle now because he doesn’t have the ammo. As for Seb, Mark (Prescott) is going to send his horses up north and his horses are very well handicapped.
“Wherever Seb goes he’s going to pick up two or three more and it’s going to be at the little meetings where he’s going to be adding the numbers on.
“But it depends, really, what Sir Mark has left.”
Sanders is currently on the 105-winner mark, while Holland is on 94.
Dettori, who is backed by the powerful Godolphin operation, has twice been champion and with 111 winners so far this season is going all out to regain the title he last won in 1995.
“Frankie’s team are sending them everywhere,” Fallon continued.
“Any other year you’d never see Godolphin sending their horses to Folkestone or Southwell or Brighton. This year they are sending them everywhere and they’ve got 300 horses in training.
“Unfortunately my team (Sir Michael Stoute’s horses) have been plagued by temperatures and bits and bobs, which is not doing me any favours, but there is still plenty to go at and plenty of nice horses in the stable.”
The Irish-born rider remains as determined as ever to keep his championship.
He said: “Frankie is not going to be handed the championship, that’s for sure.
“All in all it has been a great year for me so far. It’s not the end of the world if I didn’t win the title.
“I have the most important race in the bag, the Derby (on North Light) and anything after that is always a bonus.
“But the championship at the end of the year is a goal for all jockeys and another month will really sort us all out. I think between the three of us something will happen and I don’t think it will be as tight.
“If Godolphin are going to keep sending their horses round these gaff tracks then Frankie is going to be very hard to beat.
“But if our horses come back and we start running a few more horses, then I know I’ll be the hardest one to beat.”
Coral have trimmed Fallon’s odds in the title race to 4-5 from 10-11.
“Kieren had been as short as 1-4 just a month ago but the dual attack from Seb Sanders and Frankie Dettori meant support for him had all but dried up,” said Coral’s David Stevens.
“However, punters have obviously decided his price had got too big and with the gap now just two in Frankie’s favour, we’ve once again seen money for Fallon,”
The evens William Hill offered yesterday about Fallon was snapped up following his Windsor double on Monday night and his winner yesterday and he has returned to 8-11 favourite.
Ladbrokes have opened a book on the number of winners it will take to win the championship and they bet: 11-10 under 185 winners, 6-1 185-190 winners, 11-10 over 190 winners.
