the News of the World newspaper made allegations of race fixing against Fallon. He was due to appear before the Jockey Club later in the year to answer the allegations when on 1 September 2004, he was arrested as part of a police investigation into the alleged fixing of over 80 races in the previous two years. On 15 December 2004 the Jockey Club discontinued its investigation into the allegations. On 3 July 2006, Fallon was charged along with seven other people for conspiring to defraud the Internet betting exchange Betfair. Fallon was banned from riding in the UK until his trial was over, but was still able to race in the Republic of Ireland. On 8 October 2007, his trial on charges of race-fixing began at the Old Bailey court in London. On 7 December 2007, the judge decided the defendants had no case to answer and he directed the jury to find Fallon and all his co-defendants not guilty because of lack of evidence. His suspension from British racing was lifted with immediate effect. Stable jockey to Aidan O'Brien In February 2005 Fallon accepted the post of first jockey to Aidan O'Brien's powerful Ballydoyle stable. His new career began impressively, with a win on Footstepsinthesand in the 2000 Guineas. By the end of the season he had recorded further important wins on horses such as Yeats, George Washington and Oratorio. Fallon's 2006 ban from riding in England curtailed his opportunities, but more important wins followed for the Ballydoyle team, notably on the 2007 European Horse of the Year Dylan Thomas. Fallon's position with O'Brien ended with his 18-month worldwide ban imposed by the French racing authorities in January 2008. Positive tests On 29 November 2006 French racing authority France Galop suspended Fallon for six months after testing positive for a metabolite of a prohibited substance after riding at Chantilly on 9 July 2006. The ban ran from 7 December 2006 to 6 June 2007. On 8 December 2007, it came out that Fallon had tested positive again for a banned substance on 19 August 2007 at Deauville Racecourse in France. On 25 January 2008 Fallon received an 18-month riding suspension for this offence. He resumed race riding at Lingfield Park on 4 September 2009. Return as freelance The 2010 Flat racing season saw Kieren Fallon employed largely by trainers Luca Cumani, Mark Johnston and Kevin Ryan. Although major