Racing News round-up: The 21-day ban that Kieren Fallon received over his riding of Ballinger Ridge at Lingfield last Tuesday will be the easy part for the controversial jockey. Much though he thrives on competition, and hard though it may be to see others partner winners that should have been his, his first day back on a British track will be the biggest test, as he faces the greatest crisis of what has already been a wildly controversial career.

That assumes, of course, that there is a first day back, and there have already been suggestions that Fallon will walk away from the sport, after a claim by the News of the World that he told an undercover reporter his mount Ballinger Ridge would not win a race at Lingfield a week ago.

Instead, Fallon tipped the favourite, Rye, just a few hours before the controversial race in which he dropped his hands on Ballinger Ridge and was beaten a short head by the horse he had recommended.

The Sun, too, was in no doubt yesterday. "Fallon Finished" ran the headline. The cold-hearted pragmatists on Betfair, meanwhile, were laying him at odds of up to 4 to 1 against to retain his jockeys' title this season within hours of the Sunday papers hitting the mat. But those same punters who are betting against him now have undoubtedly offered up prayers of thanks for his efforts many times before, and could be doing so again in due course.

There is no doubt that Kieren Fallon is guilty of something, but if the betting public ultimately decide his crime amounts to little more than gross stupidity, then he may still have a place on the British turf.

Certainly, the initial signs are that most punters do not believe Fallon's ride on Ballinger Ridge was a deliberate attempt to lose the race. As one racegoer observed at Lingfield yesterday: "I have watched the tape plenty of times and to my mind there is no way that it was a bent race. He was just showboating, easing up before the line, like he had been doing in other races before that one, and it was only a matter of time before he got found out."

The head-on film is most persuasive of all. Fallon's first glance over his shoulder is far too casual to catch sight of Rye as he starts his run hard against the rail. As soon as he realises the danger, Fallon rides vigorously to the line and all but gets himself out of jail. If that was a fix, the punters behind it would have needed a stretcher to get to the payout window.

Indeed, what the punters may find more difficult to accept is the readiness with which Fallon dispensed tips in return for favours. The News of the World's article also contains suggestions of putters-on in Hong Kong, cash for information and enough money from betting to pay for a racehorse. It sounds like a pattern of activity, built up over years. If so, it is a habit that Fallon will need to kick from day one if he is to revive his riding career. It will not be easy. But the knowledge that every tabloid news-hound in the country will be on his case from now on should at least concentrate his mind.

Genuine contrition, a fresh start and, above all, a few winners ridden as only Fallon can might be enough to earn him a final chance. For that, of course, he will need employers, and Michael Stoute, his principal patron, has yet to comment. Stoute's owners, after all, are as blueblooded as their horses. Stories involving drinking, betting and possible cheating are highly sensitive, particularly for owners from the middle-east.Fallon was due to take over from Johnny Murtagh on the Aga Khan's British runner this season. That, too, must now be in some doubt.

So the 21 days are only the beginning for a jockey who has come back from many low points, but never one as desperate as this. The Jockey Club will today receive a dossier from the News of the World which looks odds-on to lead to further disciplinary action.

But so long as the punters think he is stupid rather than malicious, "Fallon Finished" is a headline too far.

Guardian Service

Sean Fox was suspended for 21 days by the stewards at Fontwell yesterday after being unseated from Ice Saint in a beginners' chase. An inquiry was held into the running and riding of the horse, who drifted both on course and on the betting exchanges, after Fox came off at the ninth fence in the Cantor Sport Beginners' Chase.

Having heard his evidence and that of trainer Matt Gingell, and viewed video recordings of the race, the stewards found the rider in breach of rule 157, in that he had stepped off his horse. They suspended Fox from March 19th through to April 8th. After hearing the judgement, Fox said: "I have been tarred with the same brush as Kieren Fallon. If they think I am mad enough to jump off at about 30mph, they must be barmy."