 | Watch Kieren Fallon interview on Night Before The Derby: Friday, BBC Two, 1830 BST |
Former champion jockey Kieren Fallon has told how a dreadful 2004 in which he faced race-fixing claims left him angry and short on confidence.
Fallon will bid for a fourth win in the Epsom Derby on Saturday when he rides Gypsy King for Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien.
And ahead of the big race, he told BBC Sport how he tried too hard in the saddle after the fixing allegations.
Fallon is one of 26 people who has been arrested and released on bail until October. He denies any wrongdoing.
The six-time champion jockey was on course to bid for a seventh title when he was suspended for 21 days in March 2004 for failing to ride to the finish on Ballinger Ridge at Lingfield.
And in September he was arrested and questioned over allegations of race fixing.
Fallon was subsequently released on bail, but his form suffered and Frankie Dettori leapt in to take the jockey's crown.
A shock move from Sir Michael Stoute's yard in England to Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien's powerful Ballydoyle stable in February 2005 captured more headlines.
But Fallon is now keen to put the dark days of 2004 behind him and concentrate on his riding.
"The whole of last year was simply a disaster," he told the BBC in an interview for Friday evening's Night Before the Derby preview programme.
"It just messed the whole thing up. "I was flying up 'til then, but it just knocked my confidence for six, and of course I was angry."
| FALLON'S ANNUS HORRIBILIS |
Fallon's riding suffered under the pressure, as he watched Dettori take a championship he regarded as his to lose.
"The trouble is I was trying too hard, and not riding the horses for the courses we were on," he said.
"I was trying to prove something to everybody but it just doesn't work like that.
"It was undoubtedly the lowest point in my racing career so far."
While he admits he misses the excitement of racing in England on a regular basis, Fallon has clearly benefited from the calm that surrounds Ballydoyle.
As a pair Fallon and O'Brien make up one of Flat racing's most formidable partnerships.
|  I think Aidan has the horse to go and win the Derby |
O'Brien is delighted to have secured a jockey of the calibre of Fallon after Jamie Spencer's departure in February.
"Kieren is a great jockey and a superb tactician on a horse, and I'm very pleased to have him here," O'Brien told BBC Sport.
"We have to ensure we remain successful every year. There's no room in this sport for complacency."
The competition for this year's Derby promises to be as fierce as ever, but Ballydoyle have four entries: Gypsy King, Oratorio, Grand Central and Almighty.
Fallon plumped for Dee Stakes winner Gypsy King on Thursday, ahead of Oratorio, who finished second at the Irish 2,000 Guineas.
Speaking before that decision, he said: "I definitely think we can win it this year, I love the course and I think Aidan has the horse to go and win it.
"Riding in it gives me a huge buzz and I am really looking forward to it."
MMIX
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