Peter Slade

Peter Slade was a leading south-west based amateur rider. Able to ride at 9st 11lb, he achieved a total of 26 winners under National Hunt rules between 1956 and 1964.

Peter John Slade was born on July 27, 1940, the son of farmer and permit trainer, Samuel (Sam) Slade, whose stables were at Rudge-Rew, Lapford, near Crediton, in

Devon. He rode his first winner on his father’s selling hurdler Alzane at Newton Abbot on September 7, 1956, then rode his second the very next day on novice hurdler Bagnor. He won on both horses again that season, ending it with a score of five.

Numerically, his most successful season was in 1958/59 with six winners, three of which came within the space of 24 hours, a winner and a double at Devon & Exeter’s two-day September meeting. The following month he achieved what he rated the highlight of his career, winning the Cirencester Handicap Chase on Aureus on his first ride at Cheltenham.

He rated staying chaser Nid D’Abeilles, owned by his mother and trained by his father, as the best he rode. Peter won four races on him, including back-to-back runnings of the Aller Park Handicap Chase on Newton Abbot’s Easter Monday card in 1962 and 1963.

Peter rode out his claim when winning his 25th race on Ocean Cheer at Taunton in April 1964. However, he rode only one more winner, that being on Just Liz in the Charles Vicary Memorial Hurdle Challenge Cup at Newton Abbot on May 9, 1964.

He listed his recreations as “parties, shooting and the Young Farmers’ Club”, so he was evidently a social animal.

Peter Slade’s winners were, in chronological order.:

1. Alzane, Newton Abbot, September 7, 1956

2. Bagnor, Newton Abbot, September 8, 1956

3. Bagnor, Newton Abbot, September 28, 1956

4. Alzane, Wincanton, March 21, 1957

5. Trimbo, Buckfastleigh, June 10, 1957

6. Alzane, Newton Abbot, September 28, 1957

7. Poppy Seed, Buckfastleigh, May 26, 1958

8. Trimbo, Devon & Exeter, August 20, 1958

9. Nid D’Abeilles, Devon & Exeter, August 21, 1958

10. First Signal, Devon & Exeter, August 21, 1958

11. Nid D’Abeilles, Newton Abbot, September 4, 1958

12. Aureus, Devon & Exeter, September 11, 1958

13. Aureus, Cheltenham, October 16, 1958

14. Trimbo, Taunton, October 29, 1959

15. Trimbo, Taunton, November 5, 1960

16. Nid D’Abeilles, Taunton, December 27, 1960

17. Flickerdick, Taunton, March 11, 1961

18. Nid D’Abeilles, Newton Abbot, April 23, 1962

19. Milltown Boy, Newton Abbot, September 22, 1962

20. Nid D’Abeilles, Newton Abbot, April 15, 1963

21. Over Court, Devon & Exeter, June 1, 1963

22. Del Santa, Newton Abbot, September 21, 1963

23. Jolly, Taunton, December 27, 1963

24. Milltown Boy, Wincanton, February 6, 1964

25. Ocean Cheer., Taunton, April 4, 1964

26. Just Liz, Newton Abbot, May 9, 1964