O'Brien Issues Robust Fallon Defence

Aidan O'Brien has given Kieren Fallon his full backing after the rider lost his appeal against a British riding ban imposed by the Horseracing Regulatory Authority.

Speaking at Newmarket, O'Brien launched an impassioned defence of his stable jockey who is unable to ride in Britain after being charged as part of a police investigation into alleged race-fixing.

Although he is still able to ride in Ireland, where he is licensed by the Irish Turf Club, O'Brien will be without Fallon's services on these shores.

He said: 'Kieren is the most unbelievable jockey we have ever had.

'It is terrible for us not to be able to use him in England.

'He is a master of his craft ? nobody I have known loves horses as much or wants to win so badly, and that is not just one race, it is every race.

'He never really uses the stick and when he does he knows when to put it down.

'With everything he rides he always comes back and explains exactly why he has done what he has done and I find the whole thing hard to believe.

'No-one treats horses with more respect than this man and he has a second sense and can feel things in a horse which other people can't.

'I saw him on the TV before he came to work for us but it wasn't until he came to work for us that I really got to understand him and his gift for horses.

'There is no doubt about his genius.

'Kieren has been there everyday and losing him is like taking a wheel off (a car).

'Kieren is so open and he doesn't speak to people deviously ? he tries to help everyone.

'People should celebrate him rather than pushing him into the ground.'

? PA Sport