Six-time Champion Jockey, former Ballydoyle number one and current Godolphin work rider Kieren Fallon has told Bets And Horses about the part he played in helping Coolmore conquer the Breeders’ Cup.
Speaking to Bets And Horses ahead of the 2026 Breeders’ Cup from Keeneland, Fallon said: “When I went to Aidan’s [O’Brien], he didn’t have that many Breeders’ Cup horses, he was just really starting to send more over.
“I was on holiday in Barbados with Derek Smith, John Magnier and Michael Tabor, and I happened to be at Michael’s house one morning. He said to me, ‘How come our horses always miss the break? When we go to America, we’re always last away and having to play catch up all the time.’
“I said, ‘The problem is we don’t have the bell at home and when the gates open and the bell goes, our horses get a fright before they jump out. The American horses, they’re so used to the bell, that they’re away and gone as soon as the gates open.’
“He said to me, ‘What bell?’, and I said, ‘Give me one of your videos there’. He got a big video player out, as this was over 20 years ago, and I said, ‘Turn it up and before the gates open, just listen’.
“American horses explode when they hear it, whereas our horses, unless you get them used to it, they actually get startled.
“Anyway, he looked at me like I was after discovering fire or something like that! He couldn’t wait to show it to John Magnier and the lads.
“Within a week, there were American stalls – which are much bigger – with the bell at Ballydoyle. That’s why you now see Aidan’s horses leave the stalls at the same time as the Americans.
“It’s their attention to detail. When you say something like that to Aidan, or to the lads, it’s happened even before you’ve finished telling them. That’s why Aidan is now so dominant at the Breeders’ Cup.
“That’s one of the little things I think I helped Aidan with, and little things are big things at that level.
“If horses leave the stalls on time, it makes a jockey’s life much easier, as they’re tight races over there and you can’t be sitting at the back unless they’re going too quick. But if you can’t get the position you want, you’re always playing catch up and then it makes life difficult.”
Europeans at a disadvantage around a bend
Fallon also pointed to another element of racing in the US that many European-trained horses are less prepared for.
He said: “The problem is that we have beautiful straight gallops here in Europe, and you’re not really turning at all. All of Charlie’s [Appleby] gallops are all straight. You’ve got these two-year-olds racing into a turn and many of these horses have never been around a turn in their lives, unless you take them away somewhere to train them.
“Libertango went to Kempton last week and galloped the wrong way round. She jumped off at the two pole and raced all the way round the other way [left-handed] to the back straight. At Keeneland you’re going left-handed, but she would never have been that way in her life. She’s run over a straight six furlongs at the July Course, at York, and Ascot and on the Rowley Mile.
“That said, you can get away with a lot more in Keeneland than you can with most tracks in America, as it’s not as tight as somewhere like Del Mar or Santa Anita.”
Sun Goddess is a “special” filly
Sun Goddess is the horse Fallon would most like to ride from O’Brien’s 2026 Breeders’ Cup squad.
“She’s a special filly,” Fallon said. “What she’s done this year over different trips has been amazing to see.
“Her temperament too, everything about her, she’s just a dream. You could take that filly anywhere and she’d adapt to any ground, and to any trip.
“She wasn’t very expensive either. I think they bought her at Doncaster, but by God she’s something special.”
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