George Baker in a coma following horrific pile-up in Switzerland frozen lake race
The fall, which took place during racing on the frozen lake track at St Moritz, Switzerland, lead to Baker being airlifted to hospital and the remainder of the card cancelled due to the condition of the track, which has a hole in it.
CLASSIC-winning jockey George Baker is in a coma after an horrific three-horse pile-up after a race on a frozen lake in the toffs skiing paradise St Moritz.
The horse he was riding is believed to have put his hoof through a hole in the ice before crashing down.
Baker, 34, was airlifted by rescue helicopter to a special trauma hospital 100 kilometres away in the Swiss city of Chur.
The horse Baker was riding - the Jamie Osborne-trained Boomerang Bob - was killed. The incident took place in the first race. The rest of the meeting was abandoned.
Baker, who rode 61 winners last season including the St Leger on Harbour Law in September, was knocked unconscious before being attended to by an emergency medical team.
He was later placed in an induced coma by hospital specialists.
The two other horses and jockeys involved in the horror fall escaped unscathed.
Baker's agent, Guy Jewell, said: "George is in intensive care at the hospital.
"The one bit of good news so far is that he has already had a CT scan and that has come back clear. Now all we can do is wait for the medication to wear off."
Speaking after the incident, St Moritz press officer Claudia Grasern-Woehrle said: "We've had a bad accident in the first race.
"The jockey George Baker was brought down. Unfortunately his horse died and the jockey has been airlifted to hospital. We checked the track following the incident and found a hole in it, which means we have had to cancel the rest of the meeting as safety comes first."
Racing pundit Derek Thompson witnessed the fall, reported: "I am with the course's officials and we have been told George is stable in intensive care."
Luxury yuppie resort St Moritz, 6,000 feet up in the Alps, is best known as a winter playground to the rich and famous.
Yet incredibly it has also been host to an annual horse-racing meeting called 'White Turf' on St Moritz' picturesque frozen lake since 1908.
Horses wear special snow shoes to enable them to race on the snow and ice. However there have been growing safety concerns in recent years.
Just 12 months ago the first meeting of the year was cancelled and the remainder were run on a shorter straight course of 800 metres because cracks had appeared in the back straight.
Yesterday's meeting has clearly been hit by similar issues.
A statement issued by organisers read: "After thorough investigation by the persons responsible for White Turf, a crack in the ice had occurred on the inner rails in the direction of the racetrack, some 150m from the finishing line.
"This meant that water had come up to undermine the racetrack."
Thomas Walther, President of the Management Board of the St Moritz Racing Association, told spectators: "As we could not estimate how conditions on the racecourse would develop, we unfortunately had to call off the race meeting.
"The safety of the horses and the riders are paramount. There is no danger for spectators anywhere on the lake."
Clearly that did not apply to the horses and jockeys risking their lives on the racetrack.
