WALTER SWINBURN left hospital yesterday, 12 days after suffering serious head and chest injuries in a fall at the Sha Tin track in Hong kong. "He was released on orders that he takes things quietly," said Swinburn's father, Wally.

Swinburn, 34, bruised his left lung, fractured his collar bone and ribs and suffered a serious head injury when his mount Liffey River carrier across the course into the railings.

Swinburn senior said his son was able to walk but would need physiotherapy and further hospital checks next week before flying to Dubai to convalesce. "His lungs are Al now, or nearly, and it's just the bones that need to heal."

He added that the jockey had been allowed to leave hospital at his own insistence but that doctors were satisfied with his speedy recovery.