Fallon winless on first day of comeback

Kieren Fallon's return to the races on Friday after a 23-month absence was unsuccessful as he failed to win a single race in seven tries on the Lingfield and Kempton Polytracks. Finally free of a series of suspensions, the 44-year-old Irishman came closest to victory on his first mount, Rare Malt, in a five-furlong auction maiden at Lingfield. He finished 2 1/4 lengths second on the 13-8 favorite, his comeback spoiled by the 20-1 Mr Mahoganeigh, who was ridden by Britain's leading female rider, Hayley Turner.

Fallon followed with a fourth-place finish on the 2-1 second choice Roodee King in a seven-furlong auction maiden. Two more rides at Lingfield resulted in fifth- and eighth-place finishes.

The six-time British riding champion was no luckier at Kempton Park's evening meeting, where he managed a third aboard the 5-1 Wigan Lane in a six-furlong nursery handicap, and a second on the promising first-time-out 2-1 juvenile filly Arte Viva in a seven-furlong allowance. Riding for his old boss Michael Stoute in a 1 3/8-mile handicap, Fallon completed his fruitless day's work with an unthreatening fourth on the 3-1 second choice, Bugaku.