It is a tad ironic that Cieren Fallon says he is in the shape of his life because back in November he could not even walk.
Given the 24-year-old jockey is about to embark on a new freelance career, he has a positive mindset that must have been seriously tested when he damaged ligaments in his left knee and pulled the tendon off the bone in his ankle after his mount, Persian Blue, burst out of the stalls at Newcastle.
Fallon said: ‘Three weeks ago I wasn’t even running — I couldn’t put any weight through my foot. I am doing sprints now. It is a big turnaround.
‘Throughout my career, I have never been able to lift the weights I am lifting now and I don’t think I have ever been as fit going into a season because of all this.
‘The break from racing, including all the travel, has also been refreshing. I feel very strong and I’m ready to go again. I am really looking forward to the season.
Cieren Fallon (pictured) is now fit again after recovering from knee and ankle injuries
The 24-year-old jockey says he’s in the shape of his life after receiving support from the IJF
‘The goal is to be back riding a week or two before the Lincoln Handicap (at Doncaster on March 23) so I want to be riding out by the end of the month.’
Fallon had a short break over Christmas after he also discovered discomfort he was suffering was down to a previously undetected crack in an ankle bone. But the speed and success of his recovery have been down to the support he has received from the Injured Jockeys Fund at Peter O’Sullevan House in Newmarket.
The physiotherapy sessions are now over. This week Fallon has been concentrating on fine- tuning his race-fitness in the gym with strength and conditioning coach Glen Reed, as well as riding back-to-back races — four on Wednesday — on the Equicizer with a short break in between.
The jockey is in no doubt about the debt he owes the organisation, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year having been created after jockeys Tim Brookshaw and Paddy Farrell were left paralysed after falls with no support network on which to fall back.
Out of their misfortune, something special was built. In bricks and mortar terms, the IJF now covers the country with two other rehabilitation centres — Oaksey House in Lambourn and Jack Berry House in Malton.
Clinical care, injury rehab, physiotherapy, nutritional and pastoral advice as well as mental health support make the IJF a one-stop shop for jockeys.
Remarkably, the annual £4.2million running costs are largely covered by £2.8m worth of donations and fund-raising activities, with £1.1m coming from the sale of IJF merchandise largely based on the Christmas push around calendars, cards and diaries. Not a penny is taken from a jockey’s riding fees.
The fund is there for life for all UK jockeys, professional and amateur, plus point-to-point riders, once they have held a licence. Fallon is one of more than 200 current riders who it has supported over the last 12 months, and there have been 700 other beneficiaries ranging in age from 17 to 94.
The physiotherapy sessions are over and Fallon has been concentrating on fine-tuning his race-fitness
Fallon has been riding back-to-back races – four on Wednesday – on the Equicizer with a short break in between
One of those is Graham Lee, the Grand National-winning jockey who was left with spinal injuries in a fall exiting from the starting stalls at Newcastle just over an hour after Fallon’s accident.
Lee, described as a ‘true gentleman’ by Fallon, had checked up on the condition of his younger colleague before his accident, a scenario Fallon admits puts his own situation into perspective.
It also serves to strengthen his appreciation of the IJF.
Fallon, whose father, Kieren, was a six-time champion jockey, said: ‘I wouldn’t have been able to do what I have done (without the IJF) and my recovery would have been much longer. It is more mentally harder than physically.
‘The pain you can take but mentally it is so draining. You go from riding every day and going up and down the country, to not being able to walk or run or get up on a horse in the morning.
‘It takes a toll on you when you see horses you should be riding running.
‘We are elite athletes and the IJF has everything you could need physically.
Graham Lee was left with spinal injuries in a fall exiting from the starting stalls at Newcastle
‘They don’t take all the worries out of your mind but you feel safer knowing that you have their backing if you have a niggle or a fall. The doors are always open.’
That support has meant Fallon, a dual Group One race winner, can put his energy into building on what he achieved while second jockey to Oisin Murphy at Sheik Fahad’s Qatar Racing, as he forges new links to go with his role as a key part of the jockey team of trainer William Haggas.
‘Sheik Fahad has been very understanding and will support me but I am now not tied down waiting to see what Oisin is doing,’ said Fallon, who was champion apprentice in 2019 and 2020.
‘I am giving Mr Haggas 100 per cent — I am second jockey behind Tom (Marquand). He has nurtured me into the jockey I am today but he understands I need to go into other stables to get rides, and I can now give that 100 per cent as well.’
