Most Improved (orange silks): as short as 7-2 for the 2,000 Guineas
PICTURE: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)Fallon to ride Guineas gamble Most Improved
BRIAN MEEHAN has swooped to secure the services of six-time champion jockey Kieren Fallon for the ride on ante-post gamble Most Improved in the Qipco 2,000 Guineas on May 5.
Meehan has also confirmed that Fallon, who will be bidding for a fifth win in the first Classic of the season, will also ride Iraj Parvizi's colt when he goes on trial for the Guineas in the Novae Bloodstock Insurance Craven Stakes next Thursday.
Revealing the booking, a statement on Meehan's website read: "Brian Meehan is delighted to announce that he has booked Kieren Fallon to ride Most Improved in the Craven Stakes and 2,000 Guineas this spring."
Most Improved has been the subject of a significant gamble in the ante-post Guineas market and, having been as big as 20-1 just last month, is now a general 4-1 second-favourite for the race, although Sportingbet go an industry-low 7-2.
Fallon sat on Most Improved for the first time last week when he worked over 7f on the trainer's Derby gallop, although Meehan said after that impressive workout that he was hoping Frankie Dettori, who rode Most Improved to finish third in last season's Dubai Dewhurst Stakes, would continue his association with the horse during the season.
Fallon, who last won the 2,000 Guineas on George Washington in 2006, expressed his delight with the way Most Improved had worked last week and thinks he has the right credentials to lift next month's Classic.
Quoted on Meehan's website, Fallon remarked: "I was very impressed with him in every way, physically and mentally. He gave me the feel of a horse capable of winning the Guineas and he has already proved that he is up to that class. I could not be happier with him. The 2,000 Guineas has been a lucky race for me. I have won it four times and, hopefully, Most Improved will make it five."
Racing Post Trophy winner Camelot remains a rather uneasy 5-2 favourite for the Guineas, his trainer Aidan O'Brien not having committed him for the race at this stage.
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