'Being a jockey can be a lonely place when winners aren't flowing'

Former northern-based rider and Professional Jockeys Association executive director of racing Dale Gibson recalls over two decades of riding against and sharing the weighing room with now-retired six-time champion Kieren Fallon . . .

It was slow burn with Kieren to start with. Learning the craft in the north of England is very old school. You're trying to get ordinary horses to run well round the likes of Catterick and Carlisle and I think that's where he learnt his craft. He could get the best out of ordinary horses and people started to take notice.

He first arrived in the 1980s, riding for the late Jimmy FitzGerald before teaming up with Jack Ramsden. In that respect he had two thoroughly good trainers who taught him a lot. He had to prove himself in the north first, a lot like Paul Hanagan has done more recently, and it was the foundation and the springboard for his success when he took bigger jobs.