Racing: Pat Eddery has put up the name of Darryll Holland as a contender to take over the job as retained jockey to Michael Stoute.

The position at Freemason Lodge is vacant after Kieren Fallon decided to end his five-year association with Stoute and become number one jockey at Ballydoyle.

Johnny Murtagh is the 4 to 5 favourite to land the job, while Ryan Moore is next best on 2 to 1.

Eleven-times British champion Eddery believes Holland has sound claims for the position and is surprised that the rider is as long as 6 to 1.

He said: "Nobody seems to have mentioned Darryll Holland. I thought somebody would, but it doesn't seem to have come up. I would like to think he has a good chance of getting it."

Eddery was stable rider at Ballydoyle in the early 1980s when Vincent O'Brien was the resident trainer, and he partnered such horses as Golden Fleece, El Gran Senor and Sadler's Wells.

He was not too surprised to hear that Fallon had decided to team up with current trainer Aidan O'Brien as he believes the less hectic Irish programme will have been a big draw.

Eddery explained: "In England he is travelling up and down the country, doing two meetings. He's gone for the easier route.

"He won't have to do so much this year, and he's getting a good retainer as well. Those things will have made him go to Ireland."

Fallon succeeds Jamie Spencer, who decided to quit the Ballydoyle job earlier this month.

Spencer faced intense pressure of expectation, but Eddery has no doubt Fallon is equipped to deal with that.

"I don't think there's that much pressure on him. He's a world-class jockey and he knows what to do, so I'm pretty certain he will cope with the job, no problem," he added.

Robert Winston , who rode out for Stoute on Saturday in a pre-arranged appointment, has also been linked with the post.

Winston had his best-ever year in 2004, enjoying his first Group One success and topping the century for the first time with a total of 114 winners.

"It's just nice to be mentioned," Winston said yesterday.

"There's going to be a lot of speculation around. There are plenty of top-flight, high-profile jockeys. It's just nice to get a mention. That's all I know.

"Magical Romance winning the Cheveley Park was the highlight of my career so far. I've got plenty of recognition from that winner. It's all down to her and hopefully I'll have as good a season as I had in the last one."

Like Fallon, Winston was arrested by the City Of London Police in the on-going investigation into alleged race-fixing. He was quizzed four weeks ago and was bailed until May 3rd.

Fallon, meanwhile, has admitted that it was a tough decision to quit his job with Stoute and take up the position as retained jockey at Ballydoyle.

He said: "All week I felt great about the possibility of joining Coolmore, but on the other side, I didn't want to leave the job I had.

"The hardest part was ringing Stoutey. He knew what was coming and told me he would have appreciated knowing far sooner. I didn't call because I wasn't sure what I was going to do.

"But overall, he was really good about it. He said we'd been a great team, which is true, and a very lucky team, which is also true. He wished me the best for the future."