Kieren Fallon sissy-punched at Lingfield

You know that your pugilistic skills leave something to be desired when you land a sucker punch on a 115-pound man and he's left standing to say that you "hit like a girl."

Irish-born jockey Kieren Fallon on Saturday was blindsided by David Reynolds, joint owner of 3-1 favorite The Scorching Wind and third-place horse Seek The Fair Land, after neither of Reynolds' horses managed to win a race at Lingfield. The altercation took place in the unsaddling area behind the weighing room at the track. Reynolds apparently blamed Fallon for causing interference that left The Scorching Wind finishing ninth of 10. But stewards absolved Fallon of any blame, finding that he was trying only to ease 5-year-old gelding Elna Bright out of the race, after the horse had been bumped and injured.

Reynolds was hauled off the grounds by security.

"It was unbelievable -- something you don't expect on a big raceday," said Peter Crate, the owner of Elna Bright. Crate was nicked up in the fracas, as well, with a red mark on his cheek, according to Racing Post. "I was standing looking at my horse's injured leg and he (Reynolds) came in like a whirlwind and landed a punch from behind on Kieren, smashing him in the face. He caught me a glancing blow as he swung and both me and Brett (trainer Brett Johnson) got in between him and Kieren."

Fallon bounced back later in the card to ride Fiery Lad in the Winter Derby and to maintain high spirits, though his charge in that race finished 12th of 13.

"He came up behind me when I was unsaddling, but I'm all right. He hits like a girl," Fallon told Racing Post. "I don't know what it was about."

"He needs to take some boxing lessons, anyway," Fallon told The Guardian.

Like most good Irishmen, it seems Kieren Fallon can take a punch. Whether David Reynolds can throw a good one is a matter for debate.

What is probably a safe bet is that Reynolds won't be around a British racecourse to throw another one for awhile.