'I'm going to have to learn to ride all over again but that's the ultimate aim'

It may not seem much of a positive to take out of a major brain trauma, but George Baker's golf swing is coming on a treat. After a few months on the sidelines following his catastrophic crash on the snow and ice of St Moritz, he's back on the tee and happy with the way his game is going.

"My coach says that when people start playing again they usually fall straight back into all their old bad habits," says the steady 14-handicapper, "but I don't even know what my bad habits were. They tell me part of the brain has died and I need to teach another part to do its job, so I'm having to learn to play again from scratch, the same way I'm having to learn everything else.”

It is testament to Baker's dogged progress that golf is even a part of the conversation so soon after the bleed on the brain that followed his horrific fall from Boomerang Bob at February's 'White Turf' meeting. To begin with, survival, then standing and walking, were the biggest priorities for the 34-year-old rider, who was treated for 45 minutes on the frozen lake before being airlifted to Graubunden Hospital in Chur for eight make-or-break days.