Kieren Fallon has threatened to quit race-riding if his suspension from British racing due to a race-fixing scandal is not lifted by the start of the season in 2007.
The 41-year-old former champion jockey, currently in Australia, has stressed that his Coolmore Stud employers could not be expected to continue engaging other jockeys for the top races in Britain.
Drawn out legal proceedings into allegations of race fixing could stretch to the end of next year but Fallon is hoping a solution can be found earlier than that.
"This thing has hung over me too long and time is running out. If it doesn't get resolved before the start of the next Flat season, that's me finished - I'll have to retire," he said.
"I'm told we're looking at January at the earliest for a hearing. If it's not finished then, then my team (Coolmore) won't wait any longer - they can't. They will need a jockey free to ride everywhere.
"And if the job went, I'd quit. I wouldn't carry on riding no-hopers around Listowel. Not after riding favourites in all the classics," Fallon added.
Fallon has been unable to ride in Britain since July and has missed out on Group One winners such as George Washington (Queen Elizabeth II Stakes) and Alexandrova (Yorkshire Oaks.)
He also missed out on last weekend's Breeders' Cup due to a reciprocal agreement between American racing authorities and the HRA in Britain.
• Missed That will be given a slow and steady build-up before receiving his first serious examination in either the Stan James King George VI Chase at Kempton or Leopardstown's Lexus Chase over the Christmas period.
Trainer Willie Mullins sent the 2005 Champion Bumper winner straight over fences last season and was rewarded with two Grade One victories.
However, rather than campaigning over the shorter trips, Mullins is planning to step him up in distance for the championship races this term. "He's back in his training, and schooled over some hurdles on Sunday, where he looked pretty good," he said.
