Fallon scores in America
Kieren Fallon showed racegoers at Churchill Downs why he is revered on the other side of the Atlantic when producing a vintage ride on River Belle to win the $150,000 (€115,700)-added Mrs Revere Stakes by a nose last night.
The six-times British champion positioned the three-year-old filly to lead and moved off the rail running into the home straight in the Grade Two contest, but had to be at his strongest to hold off the fast-finishing Lenatareese and Cape Town Lass in a blanket finish.
The Irishman was renewing an old acquaintance, as he won last year’s Princess Margaret Stakes at Ascot on the filly when she was trained by Alan Jarvis. River Belle is now with Todd Pletcher.
"It was close,” Fallon told www.thoroughbredtimes.com.
“I thought the horse on the outside (Lenatareese) was finishing and I didn’t know if I had held on or not. She’s a tough filly. It’s the third time I’ve ridden her and the third time I’ve won on her, so she’s done me good.
“I was always confident. Actually, I thought she would go away and do it easier, but she wants faster ground than this.”
The former champion jockey had earlier recorded his first winner at the track when partnering Sure Prize to a smooth victory in an allowance race over nine furlongs.
