Champion Australian rider Damien Oliver made a winning return to Hong Kong, part of his successful comeback from shocking back injuries in a 2005 race fall at Moonee Valley, acoring an emotional victory aboard River Jordan in the final event. 'It's great to have Damien back and winning for us, but it's a little sad as well,' said trainer John Moore, who revealed that the horse's owner, Cheng Chi-tai, had died earlier in the week. 'Mr Cheng was in China on a business trip and had a heart attack. I checked with the executors of his estate whether we should run this horse today and they insisted that we go ahead. I'm sure Mr Cheng's spirit was riding with us.' Oliver's fall at Moonee Valley on March 24, 2005, saw him perilously close to being left a quadriplegic after damaging his T3 and T4 vertebrae and his rehabilitation took more than a year before he returned to the saddle in June last year. Oliver had not ridden a winner here since steering home Key To Success for Moore in the last race on international day - December 2004. 'I'm back in full swing now at home - it takes time to get fully fit again ... but I'm well and truly back now and feeling good,' Oliver said. Moore added that he hoped Oliver would consider applying to ride in Hong Kong for the final part of this season. 'He's one of the best jockeys around and I think it would be nice to see a few new faces around up here,' he said.
