Jockey Bio

Slade Callagan 
Slade 
Callaghan 
Born: 8/21/1970  in Bridgetown, Barbados 
Resides: Bolton, Ontario 
Career Wins at Woodbine
654

2009 

  • won three stakes, including two with Rahy’s Attorney (King Edward and Nijinsky)
  • also took the Colin Stakes with Fearless Cowboy
  • split his win total evenly between routes and sprints
  • recorded 108 top-three finishes
Statistics
Woodbine Stakes Wins
 YEAR  WINS
2009 3
 2008 3
 2007 1
  2006 -- 
  2005 5
  2004 1
  2003 1
  2002 4
  2001 3
 2000 4
1999 6
Recent Woodbine Record
YEAR STARTS WINS RANK PURSE EARNINGS
 2009 442 34 t-15 $2,014,034
 2008 441 44 13 $2,792,741
 2007 384 33 20 $1,705,865
 2006 404 34 t-14 $1,754,769
 2005 373 33 15 $1,931,595
 2004 546 67 t-6 $3,657,536
 2003 452 37 17 $2,376,015
2002 509 54 t-10 $3,435,971
2001 437 43 t-18 $2,396,416
2000 403 48 15 $2,616,537
1999 525 60 11 $2,066,269
Lifetime
 MOUNTS 1st 2nd 3rd
6,735  694 736 797

As of December 31, 2009
Career
  • earned his license at age 16
  • his first winner in Barbados was a two-year-old named Noble Run
  • riding career soon came to a halt when he was involved in a nasty accident where he sustained a major shoulder injury
  • therapy to rehabilitate the shoulder was unsuccessful and he flew to Toronto in 1987 for surgery to repair the damage
  • after a 10-month absence, Slade returned to the racetrack in Barbados and won his first race back
  • competed in Barbados until 1993, before coming to see his brother Brett ride at Woodbine
  • "fell in love" with the Toronto oval and decided to stay
  • first winner in Canada came at Fort Erie aboard a three-year-old named Roccoski on May 8, 1994
  • breakthrough season came in 1999 winning 60 races and six stakes...during 1999, Slade guided Great Defender to a then track record mark of 1:08.17 for six furlongs
  • followed up in 2000 with a 48-win year despite missing a month with a fractured vertebrae
  • made a memorable comeback winning the New Providence Stakes with Matter of Courage
  • Slade teamed with Incitatus, a horse bred and trained by connections from his homeland of Barbados, to win three stakes in 1999 and 2000
  • recorded 43 wins in 2001
  • in 2002, finished 10th (tied with fellow countryman Jono Jones) with 54 wins
  • piloted Portcullis to three consecutive stakes scores (Charley Barley, Toronto Cup and Breeders' Stakes) and year-end Sovereign honours as the nation's top turf male
  • won four added-money events in 2002
  • won the final race of the 2002 Woodbine thoroughbred meet aboard Devil's Scripture, a 50-1 longshot that paid $103.10 to win
  • in 2003, Slade topped the $2-million mark in earnings for the fifth consecutive year
  • guided Sam-Son Farm's Colorful Judgement to victory in the Chief Bearhart Stakes in 2003
  • in 2004, Slade put together his best year at the Toronto oval, a campaign that featured career-best marks in wins (67), purse earnings ($3,657,536) and ranking (t-6th)
  • other highlights included a victory with Colorful Judgement in the Grade 2 Sky Classic Stakes and a rousing second-place finish with Burst of Fire behind A Bit O'Gold in the Breeders' Stakes, third and final jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown Series
  • topped the $20-million mark in career earnings in 2004
  • won six of nine races, hitting the board in two others, at Fort Erie
  • in 2005, won f ive stakes races in 2005, including the Vigil and Bold Venture with Judiths Wild Rush and the Cup & Saucer with Pyramid Park
  • also captured the South Ocean with La Gran Marilyn and the Frost King with Bad Hat
  • notched his 500th Woodbine win
  • won more races and ranked higher than his 2005 season
  • in 2006, had 13 more top-three finishes than in 2005
  • his 8.09 average win odds ($16.18 profit per $2 win wager) was tops among top 15 riders
  • 19 wins came in sprints, 15 in routes, including five on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course
  • won the Incitatus Cup with Archeress on Barbados Day at Woodbine
  • won the Simcoe Stakes with Don’s Folly
  • average win odds of 8.23 translated into a payout of $18.46 per $2 win wager
  • recorded 10 two-year-old wins, ranking him eighth in the category
  • earned his first stakes win aboard two-year-old Judith's Wild One in the 1996 Colin
  • recorded multiple stakes wins with Incitatus (both graded) and Vorticity
  • has two thirds of a career Triple Tiara (Seeking The Ring in the 2003 Bison City at Fort Erie and Misty Mission, who denied Catch the Ring a sweep of the series in the 2000 Wonder Where)
  • won the prestigious, Grade 1, $1-million Woodbine Mile with Rahy’s Attorney
  • in 2008, partnered Rahy’s Attorney to victory in the Grade 3 Connaught Cup and the pair contested the Mile Championship at Kyoto, Japan on November 23
  • won 44 races (26 sprints, 18 routes) up from 33 in 2007
  • increased his purse earnings by over $1-million, to $2,792,741
  • ranked 13th, up seven spots from 2007
After the Wire
  • learned tricks of the trade in the show jumping ring
  • brother Brett was formerly a Woodbine rider
  • Slade's parents, David and Maureen, watch their son race via their home computer (live video coverage on the Woodbine Entertainment website) in Barbados
  • Slade participated in the second annual Colombian Emeralds Jockey Challenge on New Year's Day 2005, at the Garrison Savannah in Barbados
  • Slade, who also excels in tennis, squash and several other sports, ran his own farm in Barbados prior to coming to Canada
  • wife’s name is Kelly