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I don’t think it makes much difference, but it’s probably best to say that AoB didn’t actually use the words ‘substance addiction’ either. This is what he said;
“I don’t know what will happen, we’ll have to go home and talk to him. Kieren, everyone knows, has an addiction problem and had before he came to us.”
Mike
The alternative view is less forgiving. It is another manifestation of Fallon’s unerring capacity to attract trouble. It is a reflection of his inability to mix in appropriate company. It is a collapse of self-discipline. Certainly, it is the areas of self-discipline and suspect company that have apparently alienated O’Brien. A puritanical man, the trainer seems to have lost trust and patience in his jockey.
Publicly, he continues to offer vocal backing and, even privately, O’Brien will agree with the staunch assertions of Magnier and partners that they will never find a better race-rider. But he has reached the point where he wants a less volatile character working with him.
O’Brien’s reaction to the dope test was illuminating. After pointing out the pressure Fallon was under, he added: “And his temperament is fickle enough at the best of times.â€
How can anyone defend Fallon’s position?
Cocaine is a Class A drug – illegal to use and possess. If O’Brien is condoning this illegal drug use then that is tantamount to aiding and abetting.
To allow him to ride when it is known he has an addiction problem is gross irresponsibility.
To say that abuse is widespread in racing is no excuse either, two wrongs do not make a right.
The HRA should implement full sweeps at random race meetings where every rider is tested for drugs and alcohol.
If O’Brien is condoning this illegal drug use
Salselon – am I allowed to discuss this suggestion without being asked if I have any links to Ballydoyle/Coolmore?
If O’Brien is condoning this illegal drug use
Salselon – am I allowed to discuss this suggestion without being asked if I have any links to Ballydoyle/Coolmore?
I haven’t even posted on this topic, so not sure what you are referring to?! Please, though, do let me know.
What i was referring to in the other topic is the absolute, worship-like attitude towards Ballydoyle. Why are they defended by the same people time and time again, regardless of the circumstances of the point in question? I think, then, it is only fair to ask are their connections which would cause you to act (or write) in such a way, wouldn’t you?
Even Alastair Down appears to have lost patience with Fallon….
What did he say?
I’m quite interested in hearing what Down, a self-confessed substance abuser, had to say about the idea that Fallon may also be a substance abuser.
Steve
The article is now on The Racing Post website. It’s only the same thing that The Times and Guardian journalists have been saying but, well, here it is:
Kieren Fallon left the Old Bailey an innocent and vindicated man. Less than a day later he had managed to turn public triumph into personal disaster when it emerged that he had once again tested positive for a prohibited substance after a random drugs test in France.Fallon returned to action in June after serving a six-month worldwide ban imposed by the French racing authorities for using cocaine. Just weeks later, on August 19 at Deauville, he was tested once more, and the A sample has come up positive once more for a prohibited substance. He was riding Myboycharlie in the Prix Morny that afternoon and connoisseurs of extreme irony who are not familiar with drug vocabulary should note that as ‘smack’ is the word for heroin, so ‘charlie’ is the universal term for cocaine.
A feature of the entire run-up to the case at the Old Bailey was the totality of the backing given to Fallon by his employers at Coolmore. John Magnier, the most powerful individual in world racing, placed every resource at his jockey’s disposal. The normally considered figure of Aidan O’Brien was on more than one occasion quite literally impassioned in his defence of Fallon.It is quite impossible to overestimate the determination of the Coolmore clan that their man should be cleared of charges they believed to be both false and flimsy. Their support was unswerving and they were proved gloriously right when the judge put an end to a farcical trial that made the City of London police look ignorant, arrogant and incompetent.
The judge’s action in putting the prosecution out if its misery to save it any more pain also left the British racing authorities with a raft of questions to answer, not least: Who was responsible for the monumental incompetence that led to the employment of Aussie steward Ray Murrihy, the man who almost single-handedly opened the sea-cocks and scuttled the prosecution case?
Whoever recommended Murrihy must be identified and prevented from having the authority to make such calamitous decisions again.But now Fallon has mauled the hand that fed him. It is one thing for Coolmore to stand by their man to fight a perceived travesty of justice; quite another to ask them to go shoulder to shoulder once again with someone of such profound stupidity and rank ingratitude that he could fail a drugs test within two months of serving a cocaine ban.
If Fallon’s B sample comes up positive for cocaine, then he will face an 18-month ban. Would Coolmore stand by him then? Should they? No – after all, there is a world of difference between loyalty and rank masochism. For all their fashionable status in certain sections of society, Class A drugs rightly do not play well with the public. And in Ireland, following the drug horrors of Dublin in the 1990s and the death of the utterly fearless investigative journalist Veronica Guerin, they don’t play at all.
Fallon fighting the long-suspect enemy of British justice is a cause to rally round, but a man who thinks the rules on prohibited substances do not apply to him, merely to lesser mortals, is a far less defensible proposition.Either Fallon is a man who recreationally stuffs his salary up his nose or he has a serious drug problem. I am not unsympathetic towards coke addicts, having met plenty while being treated for my own alcohol problems. If he needs help, then he should do what everyone else does and go and get it. But for God’s sake stop doing it on our time.
Racing is immensely tolerant of human shortcomings, but as a sport we can no longer afford the luxury of Fallon dragging us through the mire.However much of a genius Fallon may be in the saddle, and however universally admired as a jockey, there comes a time when the patience of the public begins to wear thin.They have their own everyday worries to deal with and an undisciplined multi-millionaire with his finger on the self-destruct button who is prepared to abuse his most stalwart supporters as Fallon has abused all at Coolmore is someone for whom sympathy will drain away like water down the plughole.
It is a man’s prerogative to be a fool to himself, pathetic though the spectacle may be. Fallon damaging himself is his business, but it has moved beyond that, and a six-time champion jockey who is also a two-time coke abuser is not the type of figurehead racing needs or can afford.So clear off, Kieren, and get yourself sorted out. You will be welcome back when – or if – you grow up enough to treat this sport with the respect it has so generously accorded to you.
He still will be remembered as one of the greats. Just as George Best is in football and many others who have had personal issues.
I would liken to appeal to racing public who frequent this website to try to understand the pressures which lead to undersized and under weight men resorting to drugs to maintain their spirits when they cannot eat without losing rides and possibly their career They live for the buzz of winning and they face death every day they mount a racehorse."A horseman’s grave is always open" is a well known expression amongst them.The average NH jockey is payed 25quid a mile to put his life at risk.I know that most of us would not get up in the morning for that money.That is before traveling expenses.
How many of you have jobs where you could be put through a court case like Fallon with no opportunity to earn a living during the trial?Suspended without pay while the investigation is underway.
Most of the great jockeys have to deal with substance abuse and food abuse too. If all jockeys were tested like the horses are after each race I wonder what the outcome would be.There would probably be few qualified to ride in the Grand National by Saturday.And less qualified to ride after that race.
I frankly am amazed at the vitriol and self righteous and pompous anger poured on the man by some of the contributions who are qualified to cast the first stone, apparently.Substance abusers must learn that it is more difficult to break the addiction than to acquire it.Please be as tolerant to him as you would be to yourselves in similar circumstances.I frankly am amazed at the vitriol and self righteous and pompous anger poured on the man by some of the contributions who are qualified to cast the first stone, apparently.Substance abusers must learn that it is more difficult to break the addiction than to acquire it.Please be as tolerant to him as you would be to yourselves in similar circumstances.
Since when is condemning criminal activity "self righteous"?
I am not tolerant of anyone who takes illegal drugs and I don’t care if they are high profile jockeys or someone doing the most menial job in the world – there is no excuse.
Stop making excuses for him, he made the choices in his life. He, more than anyone, had the opportunity to say no, he did have a choice.
I would liken to appeal to racing public who frequent this website to try to understand the pressures which lead to undersized and under weight men resorting to drugs to maintain their spirits when they cannot eat without losing rides and possibly their career They live for the buzz of winning and they face death every day they mount a racehorse..
Jeezus
Whenever I read or hear about the ‘pressure’ those lucky enough to earn a decent living from playing games have to endure I’m reminded of the words of the late Australian cricketer Keith Miller, who in addition to being a great fast bowler was also a fighter pilot in the war:
"Pressure, I’ll tell you what pressure is. Pressure is a Messerschmidt up your ar*se, playing cricket is not."
the late Australian cricketer Keith Miller, who in addition to being a great fast bowler
Shockingly inaccurate, Drone. He was a great all-rounder.
Your posting is otherwise absolutely correct.
I have to say that I understand totally where Andyod is coming from but I can see why people here are so up in arms about Kieren. The worry for many is probably that racing is getting such a bad rap that it will be pereceived by the general public as a pursuit that’s only followed by worthless, degenerate filth-which is a view of a huge portion of the American population.
My personal take on Kieren is that he should have been dealt with far more severely after the Webster incident-1 or 2 years completely out of the sport- but currently he still has a lot to contribute as a jockey-but he should go to where he shouldn’t have been allowed to go 12-13 years ago the US
He should go to the US because he will many miles from many individuals who have tortured and used him for years, there are much better support systems in the sport in the US, and he’d actually be able to go to a Pogram meeting where not only no-one would know who he was-but even if they did-they wouldn’t be straight onto the equivalent of the Daily Mail etc
Jerry Bailey is a good example. Perhaps Pat Day is a better one as I don’t believe there’s any support group like the Racetrack Chaplaincy of America here in Ireland/Britain that would be able to help Kieren like they could.
Yes pathetic journalism bluechariot, just another example of the appallingly low level of debate which our media feed us.
Could it be that the Jockey Club needed the police and their powers of investigation in order to know whether criminal offences had been committed or not. Was it not their duty to do this with a prima facie case of a conspiracy revealed by Betfair, bearing in mind the public and media pressure for action on dodgy races. For decades the Jockey Club had been criticised for inaction.
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