Fallon update.....

[brockguy]

The Ballinger Ridge race gets so much attention and deservedly so. It looks terrible.. As a racing fan though, I thought he was quite unlucky. With those shocking bad horses, winning by massive distances literally destroys their handicap mark (my point here is that BR won next time out, went up 7pounds for it and never won again!!). You see so many jocks easing up and winning by as little as possible. Fallon made a huge mistake, easing too early on a horse that was tired so it took him much longer than normal to get going again. And after a terrible riding mistake, he only lost on a head bobber - hardly a deliberate loser there..

[NoChanceToDance]

Originally Posted by brockguy

The Ballinger Ridge race gets so much attention and deservedly so. It looks terrible.. As a racing fan though, I thought he was quite unlucky. With those shocking bad horses, winning by massive distances literally destroys their handicap mark (my point here is that BR won next time out, went up 7pounds for it and never won again!!). You see so many jocks easing up and winning by as little as possible. Fallon made a huge mistake, easing too early on a horse that was tired so it took him much longer than normal to get going again. And after a terrible riding mistake, he only lost on a head bobber - hardly a deliberate loser there..

I'm not with you here at all.

It was the constant looking over his shoulder in the straight. First time about 7 lengths clear...... which was fine, he then looked and they had closed to about four lengths. Even if you are trying to save a horses handicap mark you at least try and maintain a couple length lead, but no, Fallon eased the horse even more. Another look round and Rye was about a length behind, and it wasn't until Rye had put his head in front that Fallon started to move in the saddle.

I understand what you are saying about handicap marks, but this wasn't a case of that at all. Didn't Willie Muir say he was disgusted by the ride afterwards and also say he should have won eight lengths? suggesting he didn't care how far the horse won.

Fallon had every chance to win that race by just a couple of lengths, but he didn't take that chance.

Match that up with the huge amount of money that Rodgers placed on the horse to get beaten, and you have a very dodgey case on your hands.

Did you read the article from the Racing Post?

This race wasn't just a case of preserving the horses handicap mark. Fallon could have won a very easy two lengths and the handicapper would have treated it like a six length victory anyway. There is a HUGE myth in racing that the winning distance is a big thing for the handicapper. When a horse wins easily (as BR would have done) the winning distance would have made no difference from a handicappers point of view.

[my miss storm cat]

Just a passing thought but are texts routinely allowed as evidence?

I mean, would it be far-fetched to rule that they're inadmissible?

Just wondering.....

[NoChanceToDance]

Originally Posted by my miss storm cat

Just a passing thought but are texts routinely allowed as evidence?

I mean, would it be far-fetched to rule that they're inadmissible?

Just wondering.....

Yes, texts and phone records are often used as evidence.

[my miss storm cat]

I was afraid of that. I just thought maybe texts... maybe it could be argued....

* * *

RP...

The suggestion Fallon was deliberately trying to lose races 'simply ridiculous'

by Shenai Raif

THE suggestion that Kieren Fallon was deliberately trying to lose raceswas "simply ridiculous", a betting scam trial was told on Wednesday.

Fallon was six times champion jockey and a man "driven to win", said his barrister, John Kelsey-Fry QC.

Fallon listened a few feet away as Mr Kelsey-Fry told a jury at the Old Bailey: "He is a man driven by the desire to win."

Fallon and five others are accused of plotting to make 27 horses lose in order to win money on bets.

But the prosecution say he ended up owing the crooked betting syndicate money because he won five of his 17 races.

Mr Kelsey-Fry said: "The very fact that a man described as the greatest jockey of his generation ends up unable to help winning when he is trying to lose is simply ridiculous."

Fallon had, in fact, won more races - an average 29.4% - during the time of the alleged conspiracy, than the 19% he normally averaged.

Mr Kelsey-Fry said this meant Fallon's winning rides were 150 times higher "when he was trying to lose than when he was trying to win".

It alleged that the six defendants were involved in a conspiracy with others between December 2002 and September 2004 to defraud Betfair customers and other punters.

Fallon, 42, formerly of Newmarket, Cambridgeshire, but now of Tipperary, Ireland, Fergal Lynch, 29, of Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire, and Darren Williams, 29, of Leyburn, North Yorkshire, deny the charges.

Shaun Lynch, 37, of Belfast, former racing syndicate director Miles Rodgers, 38, of Silkstone, South Yorkshire, and Philip Sherkle, 42, of Tamworth, Staffordshire, also plead not guilty.

Rodgers also denies concealing the proceeds of crime. All the defendants are on bail.

The defendants in the case have been allowed to sit next to their lawyers in the well of the court during the rest of the trial.

Mr Kelsey-Fry was addressing the jury after the judge invited defence counsel to make a speech following the prosecution opening of the case.

Fallon and the two other jockeys, Fergal Lynch and Williams, are alleged to have passed on information to syndicate boss Rodgers that their rides would lose.

Fallon is alleged to have used intermediaries to pass on information but Mr Kelsey-Fry said he was only talking to friends about races.

He said: "Nothing wrong with that. If you're champion jockey six times, you will find, you readily accept, the whole world wanting to know your opinions about every horserace there is.

"You will hear evidence demonstrating that Mr Fallon was content to do so to any number of such people."

Mr Kelsey-Fry said Fallon had even been asked for his opinion in a BBC interview before he rode in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in France at the weekend.

He won on Dylan Thomas but had fancied another horse, Soldier Of Fortune, because of the soft ground.

Mr Kelsey-Fry said the prosecution case showed "signs of desperation".

Earlier, Peter Kelson QC, for Rodgers, told the jurors that there were factors in the prosecution which would cause them anxiety.

The officer in charge of the inquiry, and who is soon to retire, had been offered a job with the Jockey Club which had originally called in police to make an independent investigation.

Mr Kelson said: "We submit that this matter goes to the root of impartiality in this matter."

He said Rodgers was a professional and prolific gambler who had not done anything illegal.

He had openly "boasted" of his contacts and made no secret of the fact that he relied on tips.

[NoChanceToDance]

I'm sorry, but if the defence lawyers are going down the road of "the champion jockey" and "a driven man" this will be over very quickly.

The defence lawyers have to remember the fact that Fallon has overcome a drink addiction and has been recently banned for using cocaine.

The champion jockey and being a driven man for success will get them no where.

[brockguy]

this may seem very basic, but it seems to me that Fallon was just a nuisance to these guys.. yeah, he might have said things to people etc etc, but all he did was give these guys the run around and lose them money..

nochance, i suppose the defence has to say those things re: champion jockey etc.. for the jury to show just how high up he was in horse racing.. But yeah, its defo not the best pillar to rest a case upon..