The beleaguered former champion jockey Kieren Fallon has received another crushing blow with last night's confirmation that the Irishman has received a six-month ban by the French racing authorities after testing positive for a prohibited substance.
Racing's most controversial figure, already banned from riding in Britain, and facing court proceedings there on conspiracy to defraud charges, is facing the possibility of being suspended from racing completely until next June.
Such a development could put the final nail in the coffin of his current job as the number one rider at Aidan O'Brien's stables and to the hugely powerful Coolmore Stud operation.
Fallon's suspension is set to start on December 7th and although he has until midnight tomorrow to appeal the France Galop decision, the Irish Turf Club said last night that if the penalty is confirmed, it is likely to be reciprocated in this country.
The British authorities did not ask other racing administrations to reciprocate their ban on Fallon which has been in place since July.
That allowed Fallon to continue riding in France and Ireland. But this latest suspension is set to carry very different implications.
"My understanding is that we will be asked, if the penalty is confirmed, to reciprocate the suspension," said the Turf Club's chief executive Denis Egan. "Ultimately that will be up to the stewards here but I'm fairly certain they will go along with France Galop. My understanding is that it would be treated the same as a riding ban. We have signed international agreements to reciprocate such penalties."
The positive test was taken after Fallon (41) rode the O'Brien-trained Ivan Denisovich in the Group One Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly on July 9th. The horse finished eighth of the 11 runners.
Henri Pouret, a France Galop spokesman, said yesterday: "Kieren Fallon has been notified he has a suspension of six months after he tested positive for a prohibited substance. He has the right to appeal but both the A and B samples tested positive."
Fallon was not available for comment but his solicitor, Christopher Stewart Moore, said: "Over the course of his long riding career, Kieren Fallon has been tested by authorities all over the world and the results have always been negative. In this case, only trace levels have been detected and these are considerably lower than the generally accepted thresholds for positive results.
"Kieren is dismayed at this turn of events but understands that as a strict liability offence, France Galop has no alternative but to impose a suspension."
Flat racing in Ireland doesn't begin again until next March but earlier this week, the authorities in Hong Kong refused Fallon a licence to ride at the prestigious international festival there on Sunday week because of his legal problems in Britain.
It was a similar move to the one that ruled Fallon out of the Breeders' Cup meeting in Kentucky earlier this month although he was granted a licence to ride the O'Brien-trained Yeats in the Melbourne Cup in Australia.
During his trip to Melbourne, Fallon told reporters that he would consider retiring from race riding completely if the legal saga surrounding the conspiracy charges was not settled quickly before the European flat season starts again in 2007.
"The people I ride for need a jockey who can ride for them everywhere," he said, referring to the Coolmore Stud operation headed by John Magnier.
However, a six-month ban for the discovery of what is described as "a metabolite of a prohibited substance" would rule Fallon out of the first half of the classic season in Ireland and France as well.
Last night a spokesman for Coolmore said: "John Magnier, Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor and Aidan O'Brien have learned of Kieren Fallon's suspension by France Galop. During that period, they will continue to use the best jockey available to them."
