About Jockey Brett Callaghan
Due to my small stature and very light weight, at the age of 10 years old I started learning how to ride horses in Barbados at a horse riding school, close to my home with the intention of becoming a jockey when I got older.
As I thought at the time, there wasn't much a person could do being as tiny as I was other than be a jockey.
As I turned 14 years old, while weighing only 66 pounds and was merely 4' 7", I applied for my exercise jockey's license and got it.
I rode race horses on mornings at the Garrison Savannah racetrack in Barbados for 1 year from 6 am - 8 am, before dressing and going to school 5 days a week and also riding on weekends.
I then got my jockeys license at the age of 15 and had my first race ride in November 1989; following in my older brothers foot-steps. I won a total of 34 races in Barbados from 388 rides from the period of Nov. '89 to March 1993.
Jono Jone on left and Brett Callaghan on right
In those years I also rode 10 races in Martinique, with 1 winner, and 14 rides in Trinidad with 2 winners. They race about 25 times a year in Barbados, as the horse population is pretty small. But, it is a great track to learn a lot of the basics of race riding.
During those years I was off for 4 months due to an accident which happened just after a race, as the horse fainted, while galloping out.
I was in a coma for 2 weeks, but thank God I made a complete recovery, with no lasting side effects.
Nevertheless, I continued racing as it is a great love of mine, in 4 months, which was 2 months earlier than the Doctors expected and finished 3rd on one of my favourite horses, "Man's Wish", which I won 7 races on, during my career in Barbados.
Then in 1993 I moved to Toronto, Canada, to further pursue my racing career at Woodbine (www.woodbineentertainment.com), Fort Erie (www.forterieracing.com) and Greenwood racetracks in the Ontario region of Canada.
In Canada, I've ridden in over 1,200 races with a total of 135 wins (As of September 21st, 1998); mainly at Woodbine, Fort Erie & Greenwood racetracks. In all, I have ridden 174 winners (As of November 17th, 1998).
I was also off for 5 months in 1996, due to an operation which I had to have on my knees due to cyst in one knee and a chipped bone in the other, all wear and tear from racing.
I then decided to place my racing career on 'HOLD' for the remainder of 1998, in order to take a Microsoft Skills 2000 computer Course (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer Course). This course required full time participation for 5 days a week, for 5 months or 21 weeks (June 22nd - November 13th '98).
Needless to say, since completing the program by sitting and passing all 6 of the Microsoft Exams, I am now a "Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE).
During the time of my course I continued exercising racehorses at the racetrack (Woodbine) on weekends to and at the same time was able to ride in 3 horse races at Woodbine (Up to November 17th, '98) on a great horse from my homeland in Barbados, who has been racing in Toronto since 1997. His name is "Incitatus", who also won the 1997 Gold Cup in Barbados. Out of those 3 rides on him, I've managed to get a win, a third and a fifth; pretty well indeed for an ex-jockey!
I decided to take this opportunity, while I was still young (24 years) for a means of "having something to fall back on" in case my racing career does not work out to be beneficial, in the long run !!!!!!!! I'm proud of my decision to go back to school and now am extremely happy about my decision to retire completely from racing (Feb. 2004).
Since February 1999, I've been working at CIBC Mortgages Inc. in Toronto as a Senior Technical Analyst and have thoroughly enjoyed the learning experience in the business sector of Toronto.
In March 2005, I decided to return to Barbados my homeland, to begin a project called Totally Barbados. This project is desined to promote all the wonderful beauty of the Barbados Tourism Product. Read all about the success of Totally Barbados here.
In 2010 I then began another project of mine, called Totally Toronto promoting the city of Toronto.
This site was launched on November 19th, 2010 and is designed to promote the city of Toronto, in the same way I do the island of Barbados.