Cieren Richard Fallon (born 17 June 1999) is a British jockey who competes in

flat racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

Background

Fallon's parents, jockeys

Kieren Fallon Kieren Francis Fallon (born 22 February 1965 in Crusheen, County Clare, Ireland) is a retired Irish professional flat racing jockey and was British Champion Jockey six times. Career Stable jockey to Henry Cecil In ...

and Julie (Bowker) Fallon, separated when he was a young child and he grew up in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

with his mother, twin sister Brittany and older sister Natalie. He attended

St David's College, Llandudno St David's College is a private, boarding and day, middle and high school occupying Gloddaeth Hall in Llanrhos, Llandudno, north Wales. The school was founded by John Mayor in 1965 with the aim of offering a whole-person education based on Chri ...

, where he received help with his

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

. Although he played a lot of sport at school, he showed no interest in riding or racing until deciding he wanted to become a jockey at the age of seventeen. Encouraged by his father, he did a course at the

British Racing School The British Racing School is one of the two racing schools in the United Kingdom. Established in 1983, it is a charitable trust providing training for young people working in the horse racing industry. The school is based in Newmarket, Suffolk, an ...

Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Located (14 miles) west of Bury St Edmunds and (14 miles) northeast of Cambridge. It is considered the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred ...

and joined the yard of trainer

William Haggas William Haggas is a British Thoroughbred racehorse trainer, based at Somerville Lodge stables in Newmarket, Suffolk. He is the son-in-law of the multiple champion jockey Lester Piggott. He was educated at Harrow and played cricket at Lord' ...

as an apprentice.

Early career

Fallon came second in his first two races, before winning a race for apprentice jockeys on 25/1 outsider Plucky Dip at Leicester in September 2018. The following season saw him crowned champion apprentice jockey in October 2019. Wins in 2019 included the

Portland Handicap The Portland Handicap is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 5 furlongs and 143 yards (1,137 metres), an ...

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated i ...

on the Roger Teal trained

Oxted Oxted is a town and civil parish in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs. It is south south-east of Croydon in Greater London, west of Sevenoaks in Kent, and north of East Grinstead in West Sussex. Oxte ...

. Fallon spent the winter with trainer

Christophe Clement Christophe Clement (born November 1, 1965 in Paris, France) is a Thoroughbred horse trainer in the United States who won the 2014 Belmont Stakes with Tonalist. Racing background Clement initially acquired his training skills from his father, ...

in the United States. Back in England in June 2020, he won his first

Group race Group races, also known as Pattern races, or Graded races in some jurisdictions, are the highest level of races in Thoroughbred horse racing. They include most of the world's iconic races, such as, in Europe, the Derby, Irish Derby and Prix de ...

in the

Abernant Stakes The Abernant Stakes is a Group races, Group 3 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run over a distance of 6 furlongs ...

on Oxted. This was followed by a first Group 1 victory when Oxted won the

July Cup The July Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metre ...

. Having ridden out his claim, Fallon was appointed as second jockey to Qatar Racing in August 2020. He retained his title of champion apprentice jockey in 2020. On 15 June 2021 Fallon secured his first victory at

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races a ...

when he rode Oxted in the

King's Stand Stakes The King's Stand Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 5 furlongs (1,006 metres), and it is scheduled ...

. After the race he said: ""I'm blessed to sit on a horse like this.... He showed his July Cup win was not a fluke." In February 2022 it was announced that Fallon would ride as first jockey for Qatar Racing while

Oisin Murphy Oisin Murphy (born 6 September 1995) is an Irish jockey based in the United Kingdom who competes in flat racing. He has won a British Classic and a number of Group 1 races. He was British Champion Jockey in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Early l ...

is banned from riding.

Major wins

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

July Cup The July Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metre ...

- ''

(2020)'' *

- ''

(2021)''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fallon, Cieren British Champion apprentice jockeys British jockeys 1999 births Living people People educated at St David's College, Llandudno Lester Award winners