by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway

Saratoga Springs, NY — Don’t look now but we’ve got a race within the races on our hands for top trainer at Saratoga.

Ed Keys photo

Ron Cushing is currently the leading trainer at Saratoga.

With the driving title all but certain to go to Dan Cappello, Jr. for the second straight year, the battle to be the Spa’s top conditioner is up for grabs. Ron Cushing sits atop the leader board after getting off to a sensational start while building a huge lead and though he continues to thrive, there are two other trainers knocking on his door to take over in pursuit of training supremacy.

The quest to be top trainer is uncharted waters at Saratoga for Jackie Rousse and Jeff Deslandes but as the weeks go by the dream is closer to becoming a reality for one of the two.

Rousse came to us from the Canadian racing circuit and first raced horses at the Spa in late ’04. It wasn’t until the 2005 racing season though that we realized that Jackie was here to stay and meant business. Immediately enjoying local success, Rousse brought horses to town for seemingly every class. Rarely in the past two years has there been a weekend open that didn’t feature a Rousse trainee.

Last year, the best to date for Rousse, she earned a training percentage of nearly .400 en route to becoming Saratoga’s Horsewoman of the Year. In the first three months of this year, Jackie is proving that the success she enjoyed in ’06 was no fluke.

Friday night meant two more wins for Jackie Rousse, including a victory in the night’s feature, the Open Trot. While teaming up with regular driver, and Canadian invader, Denis St. Pierre, Rousse had Sudden Speed “swoop the group” in Friday’s Open, going sixth to first to score the major upset at 59-1, defeating the field in 1:56.3 and tracking down the favorite in the process.

Unbreakable Heart won the next race on the program and it was business as usual for Rousse, another training double and one that would bring her to within two of Ron Cushing in the trainer standings. With another victory Saturday night with feature winner PH Tidal Wave in his local debut, Rousse has moved to just one behind the leader in the quest to be the Spa’s top trainer in ’07.

It is safe to say that Jackie Rousse has become the heavy favorite to repeat as top horsewoman at Saratoga and has a big chance to win her first training title.

Another trainer who relocated to Saratoga within the past few years has also joined the ranks as one of the top Spa conditioners. Jeff Deslandes moved his barn to Saratoga and had his first full season here in 2003. While enjoying some success, no one could have guessed that within four years he would be battling it out near the top of the training leader board.

Deslandes has been on a major run in the last couple of months and has surged into third in the standings. Starting the week just one victory behind Rousse and five behind Cushing, Deslandes scored another training double on Thursday night, getting wins with claimers Halo Overhead and Pleasant Tap.

What has aided the Maine import so much in climbing the standings has been winning streaks. Nearly a dozen horses from the Deslandes barn have rattled off back-to-back wins at some point this season, including a streak of five wins by Cosmic Trader N, who was scratched Saturday night with a five race streak on the line.

The Thursday win for Pleasant Tap (Kim Crawford) started a new streak for the claimer who has thrived since the class drop and now has three wins and two seconds in his last five tries. Halo Overhead’s win in the night’s first race added her to the growing list of repeat winners from the Deslandes barn.

Though not many of the Deslandes trainees have been participants in the features on any given night, the 38-year-old has been moving horses up the claiming ranks and graduating horses up the condition ladder en route to entrenching himself in the top three Saratoga trainers, now almost four months into the racing season.

Winning is nothing new to Deslandes, who was awarded Saratoga’s Peerless McGrath Award in 2004, which recognizes the top “up and coming” trainer at the Spa. This year though, the Deslandes barn is seeing rejuvenation and is getting wins from all different members. While using a variety of drivers, Deslandes has gained the majority of his wins this year with Brian Allen or Jay Randall in the bike.

Now just two wins behind second place trainer Jackie Rousse, Jeff Deslandes is sure to be in the mix for the long haul to be considered among the top conditioners at Saratoga this year. Stay tuned as the race within the race to be the Spa’s top trainer is heating up.

Live harness racing resumes on Wednesday night (May 23) and continues every Thursday through Saturday at 7:00 pm. Note that on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28, there will be a matinee card offered at the Spa. Come out and join us for live harness racing action as we approach the summer months in Spa city.