by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — At age 20, Ryan Deaton trains and drives, but not necessarily in that order.

“I consider myself a driver who trains,” Deaton said. “I want to make my career as a catch driver and drive as many as I can.

“It’s a great feeling to be on the track competing and I really enjoy it. If I don’t become a fulltime driver than I’ll train so I’m involved in harness racing. It’s a great sport to be associated with.”

It got even greater for the Northfield, Ohio resident on July 25 when he drove to his first career win in a Kentucky Fair Stakes division for 2-year-old male pacers at The Red Mile in Lexington. Driving the Steve Carter-trained Best To Hurst for the first time, Deaton prevailed in his lucky 13th start of the year.

“I had a couple of checks and a second at a fair in Kentucky before that,” said Deaton, who came from behind from fourth place in the five-horse race. “I took back and sat patiently until the five-eighths marker, and pulled to get a second-over trip and moved three wide in the stretch. I opened up the last sixteenth and just rode home.

“That’s the only time I had driven Best To Hurst and he was a pleasure to drive. It was awesome to win, especially since my dad (Elliott) and brother (Tim) were there to see it.”

Both family members have been integral to the progress of Ryan, who remembers growing up at Lebanon Raceway in Ohio. Elliott Deaton has nearly 2,300 wins as a driver.

“I used to watch the races as a kid on the fence on the weekends,” Deaton said. “During the summer I would stay with my dad in Indiana while he raced there for the summer.”

Ryan moved to Northfield at age 15 and helped his dad with a stable of 10 horses on weekends and during the summer. Elliott got Ryan and Tim started on their way to jogging and training horses full-time.

“The stable was mainly mares, so Fridays were busy with me paddocking and helping out,” Deaton said. “My mom (Dawn) would let me train occasionally and I would jog some for her. I applied for my driver and trainer’s license when I felt I had trained enough.”

Ryan got his general trainer’s license in July 2014, and earned his provisional license to drive this past February. His first drive was in an overnight race at Northfield.

“I was out of the money,” he said, “but I got some experience from it.”

Ryan now works full-time in the business, training 8-year-old pacing mare Carmen O. He also helped Carter with his Kentucky-sired horses for the summer.

Less than a month after his first win, Deaton got his second driving win and first as a trainer when Carmen O took first at The Red Mile on Aug. 15.

“It was great to win with her and also get my first training win,” he said. “She’s a good horse to be around.”