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CHAMPIONSHIP-chasing Damien Oliver left the Melbourne title race behind him to work seven horses at Sha Tin yesterday morning - including several for joint champion trainer John Moore.

 But pundits putting the excellent young Australian rider together with Moore on an official basis for next season got little joy.

 ''Oh, I don't think so. I'm up here until the end of the season and I'm looking forward to it. But I wasn't looking at it as a career move,'' said Oliver.

 However, Oliver will be doing plenty of riding for Moore over the final weeks of the season as retained jockey John Marshall prepares for his official move to trainer David Hill next season.

 Moore, who has made an unsuccessful bid for French ace Gerald Mosse, has not named a retained rider for next season.

 Marshall, retained by Moore this season, has turned down a number of rides from Hill to ride for his current boss.

 ''That is only fair. I am retained by John (Moore) and if he wants me, well I ride them for him. But he has told me that I should be able to ride a few more outside now that Damien is here,'' said Marshall, whose unavailability led to the non-declaration of River Verdon for today's $2.75 million Chairman's Prize.

 ''We have been rather short of riders so it has not been easy for him.''  Oliver, the final international riding star to visit Hong Kong this season, was the centre of attention at Sha Tin yesterday morning.

 It was his first day at the track and he then met chief stipendiary steward Bernard Hargreaves later in the day.

 Apart from Moore, Oliver rode out for Bruce Hutchison and Lawrie Fownes and met other local trainers.

 ''I am really looking forward to it. I was very impressed with Hong Kong when I was here for the International races about a year ago,'' said Oliver.

   ''There's a feeling of excitement about the place and it's a nice break for me. Things are going well in Melbourne but it is good to get away for a little while,'' he said.

 Oliver, widely seen as the most talented young rider to emerge from the Australian scene for some time, is not likely to be short of work during his stint.

 Excellent Australian rider Darren Gauci starts a four-meeting suspension today, removing yet another top name from the riding ranks.

  British jockey Steve Wood died after an accident at Lingfield Park race track in England, clerk of the course Geoff Stickels said.

    Wood had been taken to hospital with suspected broken ribs and lung problems. Two other jockeys were involved in the accident but they were not thought to be hurt.

    Wood, 26, had been riding a horse called Kalar for trainer David Chapman. He is the sixth jockey to die in a racecourse accident in Britain since 1981.

    He was pronounced dead with massive internal chest injuries 20 minutes after the accident, which happened in the fifth race of the day, a five-furlong sprint.

    On Monday, jump jockey Declan Murphy was severely injured in a fall at Haydock Park in northern England.

    Murphy was unconscious and on the critical list for two days but after surgery to remove a blood clot, the 27-year-old is now improving and has been moved out of intensive care.

 In the light of these recent accidents, the Jockey Club has revealed new safety measures for jockeys.

 The main innovation is a new helmet which will give three times the protection of the previous type.

  The new helmet will have a 50 per cent thicker polystyrene liner.

   Officials believe the headgear will be a vital shield against the kind of injuries suffered by Murphy, who now looks set to ride again after his life had hung by a thread.

 The 27-year-old regained consciousness on Thursday after being moved out of the intensive care unit of the Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Liverpool, where he had been on a life-support machine.

 Murphy fell from the favourite, Arcot, at Haydock Park on Monday and suffered a fractured skull when he was kicked in the head by another horse.



Oliver to fill jockey shortfall