Leading British apprentice Fallon to ride at Gulfstream Park

Cieren Fallon, the 2019 champion apprentice jockey in Great Britain and the son of Britain’s multiple champion rider Kieren Fallon, will make his Gulfstream Park debut Thursday in the second race aboard Oakwood Stable’s What’s to Blame.

Gulfstream host and analyst Acacia Courtney caught up with Fallon at Payson Park in Indiantown, Fla., to discuss his Gulfstream riding debut.

The 20-year-old Fallon rode for top British trainer William Haggas earlier this year and ended the season with 62 wins in 478 mounts. He’s been galloping and riding since November at Payson Park for trainer Christophe Clement, the conditioner of What’s to Blame.

Fallon’s father, Kieren, six times the British champion jockey, rode at Gulfstream in the 1999 Breeders’ Cup. He returned during the winter of 2005 and won at Gulfstream aboard Team Valor’s Cartoonist.

“I’ve got a lot of people to thank,” Cieren said. “A lot of people have supported me. I spoke to my father at the start of the year and he obviously knows what it takes and he’s helped me along the way.

“It’s a bit different back in England obviously, especially on the dirt, here they go a lot quicker. That took me by surprise.”