Regular racegoers will be familiar with the ice that runs through the veins of Kieren Fallon. It seems most conspicuous when the pressure is at its peak and, as is now clear, its efficacy extends beyond the racetrack.

Fallon travelled to the Old Bailey on the Tube yesterday, sat implacably in the dock while the jury that will dictate his future was sworn in and read studiously during the legal argument that followed. Later, heading for the underground again, his conversation centred on the likely going at Longchamp this weekend.

There may be a dustily historic precedent but Fallon’s present situation is one that precious few elite sportsmen have encountered. On Sunday, he rides Dylan Thomas - heavily backed yesterday - in the highlight of the European racing calendar.

Next morning, he will be back in the Central Criminal Court as the evidence in the case is outlined publicly for the first time. Whatever else may have occurred to Fallon during the first of his potentially many hours in Court 12, he will now know that nothing happens here with the speed at which he is accustomed to living his life.

The trial of Fallon and five others, on charges of conspiracy to defraud that they all deny, has had a number of slow starts. Indeed, approaching a fortnight after it was originally scheduled, the stalls have still not opened, jammed by a combination of legal machinations and faulty plumbing.

Mr Justice Forbes was conscious of this yesterday as he addressed the final jury, following a process in which five original selections produced letters to gain their release and bring replacements from the substitutes’ bench. The judge emphasised that the sundry delays were “not the result of inefficient preparations”. He added that, henceforth, he would be seeking “maximum efficiency and minimum interruption” and then, in the manner of a kindly uncle, advised the seven women and five men on the nature of what was to come.

It will be, he said, “a complex and lengthy trial but a very interesting one”. He added, in cautioning the jury against discussing proceedings with anyone: “This is a trial which has attracted, and will continue to attract, a certain amount of attention in the media.”

Five of the six defendants were present for this 65-minute sitting. The absence of Miles Rodgers was explained by health problems but the court was assured that he is expected to attend on Monday, at which point the public gallery is likely to welcome more than yesterday’s three onlookers.

By then, Fallon may have added to his CV in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. “Will it be good ground?” he asked anxiously. “If it stays dry, I’m on the right horse in Dylan.” And the single certainty is that, despite everything, he will ride the race with a clear, cool mind.

— Authorized will face no more than 14 rivals in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Sunday after the André Fabre-trained Getaway was supplemented yesterday at a cost of €60,000 (about £41,000).