Barbadian Jones named top Caribbean performer at Woodbine

Barbadian apprentice jockey Slade Jones was the top Caribbean performer at the Woodbine Racetrack this season.

Jones, 18, the son of Jono Jones, a former champion jockey in Barbados and Canada, and the grandson of Challenor “Chally” Jones, who is touted as being among the best jockeys to emerge from the Caribbean and was the first Barbadian to reach 1 000 wins in Trinidad.

The youngest Jones ended with 60 wins for his debut season that ended on Sunday at Canada’s premier racing oval.

Jones finished seventh in the jockeys’ standing, and the 441 mounts that he rode for the season earned CAN $1 919 309.

Jones narrowly beat out highly decorated fellow Barbadian Patrick Husbands for being the most successful Caribbean jockey this season, with the 49-year-old former Woodbine champion collecting 58 wins to finish eighth in the jockeys’ table. Husbands, however, outdid Jones on the business side of the sport with his 313 mounts this season earning CAN $3 664 449 – the most of any Caribbean jockey by far – that came primarily from 11 stakes wins.

The top five Caribbean jockeys at the track all came from Barbados with the list being rounded out by Juan Crawford coming 15th overall at the track for third among the select group on 27 wins, Keveh Nicholls ending 17th overall for fourth on 23 wins, and Jason Hoyte collecting 19 wins for 19th overall and fifth.

Kazushi Kimara, a 22-year-old from Japan, was the top jockey this season at Woodbine with 152 wins, with Rafael Manuel Hernandez on 122, Justin Stein on 86, female rider Emma Jayne Wilson on 85, and Sachin Civaci on 70 completing the top five. (CMC)

Top 10 Caribbean Jockeys

at Woodbine 202

1 Slade Jones (Barbados) 60 wins

2 Patrick Husbands (Barbados) 58

3 Juan Crawford (Barbados) 27

4 Keveh Nicholls (Barbados) 23

5 Jason Hoyte (Barbados) 19

6 Christopher Husbands (Barbados) 9

7 Kirk Johnson (Jamaica) 7

8 (Tied position) on 4 points:

Shaun Bridgmohan (Jamaica)

Steve Jadoo (Trinidad & Tobago)

Micah Husbands (Barbados)