Trainer Garry Kirkup is in an induced coma in Canberra Hospital following a single car accident in which his partner, track rider and picnic jockey Samara Johnson, was killed.
The two were travelling on the the Gundagai Road at Eurongilly in the NSW Riverina on Sunday afternoon when the car left the road, hit a tree and caught fire.
Kirkup’s son Ben told Racing NSW his father had undergone abdominal surgery on Sunday night and was due to have another operation on Monday.
Scans on his spine and brain were clear and while he also has hand and foot injuries, his vital organs were not damaged
NSW Police said Johnson, who was a passenger in the front seat, died at the scene.