A significant Irish team is building up for the prestigious Hong Kong International festival on Sunday week but one home star not travelling to the Far East will be Kieren Fallon, who has been banned from riding in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club yesterday decided not to grant Fallon a licence to ride at Sha Tin on the back of his continuing suspension from action in Britain due to conspiracy to defraud charges.
Fallon had been hoping to team up with the Aidan O'Brien-trained Scorpion in the mile and a half Vase, and a possible clash with Ouija Board, who the jockey rode to victory in the race last year.
However, a HKJC statement said yesterday: "The licensing committee has decided not to grant Kieren Fallon a licence for the Cathay Pacific International meeting.
"They were of the view that while it is not appropriate for them to comment on Kieren Fallon's pending criminal proceedings, the decision not to grant a licence was consistent with the Jockey Club's previous decisions not to permit jockeys who were the subject of law enforcement investigations to ride in Hong Kong pending the outcome of those investigations."
Fallon was also prevented from riding in the Breeders' Cup earlier this month but was allowed team up with Yeats in the Melbourne Cup.
Aidan O'Brien has already indicated that Scorpion, last year's St Leger winner, is a likely traveller to Hong Kong on the back of his fifth place in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Churchill Downs.
But he is also set to be joined in the race by John Oxx's Irish St Leger heroine Kastoria who will continue her international tour after disappointing on her last start in the Canadian International at Woodbine last month.
Yesterday Oxx said: "The run in Toronto can be put down to the soft ground. The only times she has finished out of the first two in her career have been in the Yorkshire Cup and in Canada when the going was too soft.
She has come out of her last race okay and all being well the plan is to go to Hong Kong."
The 2004 winner Alexander Goldrun is set to try to repeat her success in the 10-furlong Hong Kong Cup for trainer Jim Bolger while Kevin Prendergast is set to have his first runner in Hong Kong with Mustameet on course to run in the Mile. Declan McDonogh will take the mount.
The Aidan O'Brien-trained Ivan Denisovich could manage only third in Sunday night's Grade One Hollywood Derby in Los Angeles behind the home favourite Showing Up.
