WALLY SWINBURN, the father of badly injured jockey Walter, arrived in Hong Kong yesterday to find his son's condition slightly improved. He was maintaining a vigil at the hospital bedside of the jockey, who suffered multiple injuries in a horror fall at the Sha Tin racetrack at the weekend.

"Wally has told me that it did not look a pretty sight when he saw his son," said the jockey's agent Graham Green. "Walter has been sedated so he has not been conscious throughout the time his father has been at his bedside.

"Walter is not out of the woods yet but doctors are a lot happier with his condition than they have been."

Surgeons at the Prince of Wales Hospital performed a minor operation to drain fluid from Swinburn's skull and prevent fluid build up.

The 34 year old jockey broke his left shoulder and suffered multiple fractures of his ribs and collarbone. Doctors biggest concern was an accumulation of fluid and blood in the lungs.

Philip Johnston, the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club's director of racing, said: "He is basically in a poor condition but he is stable and showing signs of improvement.

"The main area of concern is his lungs but they appear to be getting better which is good news; When you have a major accident there is a chance that things can slip back and go back but they are cautiously optimistic.

Disaster struck for three times Derby winner Swinburn when his mount Liffey River swerved badly right just after the start.

The jockey crashed through the aluminium running rail before smashing into an iron stanchion with considerable force. The accident happened on the last day before a break in racing for the Chinese New Year.

Swinburn was planning to ride in Hong Kong until the end of the month before going to Dubai. He was expected to team up with the brilliant Halling in the World Cup race.

It now appears certain that he will miss the start of the British, turf season at the end of next, month.

Although never champion, Swinburn has earned a reputation as one of the best jockeys on the big occasion. He won the Epsom Derby for the first time at the age of 19 when steering home the brilliant Shergar. Other successes in the Epsom Classic came on Shahrastani (1986) and Lammtarra last year.

Swinburn secured Europe's toughest race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, aboard All Along in 1983. He missed a second success in the race last year when controversially jocked off the winner Lammtarra in favour of Frankie Dettori.

Swinburn's is the third serious fall at the Sha Tin track. In 1984 British based Brian Taylor was killed and in the same year Frenchman Philippe Paquet suffered injuries that ended his career.

But Johnston defended the course saying: "We have had our fair share of falls but this was nothing to do with the track. The horse just took off and swerved right, straight through the running rail."

. Top hunter chaser Double Silk proved he is no back number with a potent mix of front running and bold jumping at blustery Hereford yesterday. And in the process he booked his Cheltenham Festival ticket when taking the Golden Valley Hunters Chase by a distance from Drumard.

"I think he's back to his best as he was below par last season and I'll send him to Cheltenham to try and win the Foxhunters for a third time," reported the 12 year old veteran trainer Reg Wilkins.