'You'll notice there's something very different about him'

On February 26, 2017 George Baker’s career ended with a terrible fall at St Moritz. In an extract from his autobiography Taking My Time, George and his wife Nicola tell the story of those first few days . . .

If someone offers you the chance of a weekend in St Moritz, you jump at it. The Swiss ski resort welcomes the international jet set during the winter, and for us jockeys there is the White Turf, a short series of race meetings on Sundays, held on the frozen lake at the end of the town. The racing is of only a moderate standard, although the prize-money isn’t bad, but the main attraction for me was the thought of a good night out afterwards.

I had ridden my first mount of the afternoon, Boomerang Bob, once before a month or so earlier in a little handicap at Lingfield. Although not exactly a superstar, he was a solid sort of horse, and he seemed fine on the track when we cantered down to the six-furlong start. I noticed that Dougie Costello’s horse, who was going along in front of me, was stumbling all over the place, and made a mental note not to follow the horse in the race itself, as it looked like it couldn’t pick its feet up.