CHAMPION-ELECT Basil Marcus is definitely out of Wednesday night's Sha Tin dirt meeting. Marcus, on his way to a fourth jockeys' title, is still recovering from the broken blood vessels in his right leg that developed as a result of his crashing fall when Striking Distance broke down at Happy Valley last Wednesday night. The South African said last night: 'I just want to give myself more than enough time to heal. 'The doctors have advised me there would be absolutely no point in coming back and running the risk, however small, of bursting the blood vessels again.' But Marcus expects to be fully fit to ride on Saturday when Eric Legrix should also return from knee ligament damage.

Meanwhile, trainer David Oughton and his apprentice Win Chung are set to make a final decision this morning as to whether they will appeal against the five-meeting ban imposed on Chung following dramatic interference down the back straight in Saturday's final event. Former multiple Hong Kong champion jockey Gary Moore had his best day in the saddle since his comeback a year ago when he rode a four-timer at Taipa yesterday. Clearly refreshed after a break in Australia where he rode Dark Ksar in the Perth Cup on New Year's Day, Moore stunned punters with a couple of the results but came back to ringing cheers on two other winners.

All four were trained by father George Moore, who has also returned to duty after a quick holiday in Australia. In his absence, daughter Philippe Leyshan was in charge of the string. 'It's great. I feel on top of the world,' said Gary Moore, who was particularly pleased with the win of stable star Amazing Force in the featured fifth event yesterday. 'This is a really good horse and he is up to tackling some of the better ones in Hong Kong,' he said.