Fallon hopes to get back in the saddle

Kieren Fallon hopes to be back in the saddle at Lingfield Park today after missing his six scheduled rides at Leicester yesterday.

The champion jockey has a full book of eight rides at the Surrey track. Fallon narrowly escaped serious injury when he took a crashing fall from Maritima in the second division of the EBF Hare Maiden Fillies’ Stakes at Leicester on Monday.

“I am bruised all over and feel a bit stiff after my fall. I should be okay to ride again tomorrow,” he told Teletext, for whom he provides a regular column, yesterday.

Immediately after Monday’s incident he was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary. He was released later that night and had originally hoped to return to action at Leicester yesterday, but doctors at the track advised him against riding so soon after the spill.

Medical officer Dr John Charlesworth said: “He wanted to ride, but he knew in himself that he wasn’t quite right. He has been stood down and will have to pass the doctors at Lingfield.”

Fallon did not miss out, however, as none of his intended mounts won. There was intense media interest in him at the track but he remained tight-lipped and was involved in a minor altercation with a photographer as he left.

Fallon currently trails Frankie Dettori by 14 in the race for the jockeys’ title, but he has vowed to “bat on”.