It would be a perfect world, says trainer Jenine Sahadi, if all horses ran up to the age of 8 or 9, grass racing was given as much respect as dirt racing, and no one ever asked a woman trainer if her boyfriend was really the one behind her success.

Sahadi, 37, has only been training thoroughbreds since 1993, but in that time she has won the Breeders' Cup Sprint twice (with Lit De Justice in 1996 and Elmhurst in 1997) and saddled several stakes winners, including the popular California-bred Megan's Interco.

Today, Sahadi will try to become the first woman trainer to win the Grade I Santa Anita Derby as she saddles The Deputy, a versatile Irish-bred owned by Team Valor. Bought privately by the syndicate in late 1999, The Deputy, 2-1 on the morning line, won his first two American starts before finishing a close second to Fusaichi Pegasus in the March 19 San Felipe Stakes.

Trainer Neil Drysdale has shipped Fusaichi Pegasus to New York for the Wood Memorial next weekend and is running War Chant, in today's $1 million, 1 1/8-mile Derby, the final Southern California prep for the May 6 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

The 9-5 morning line favorite, War Chant is undefeated in three lifetime starts and will be ridden by Jerry Bailey. Anees, last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, is 4-1 and looking for his first victory of 2000. Surfside, a mammoth filly from the D. Wayne Lukas barn, is 6-1 and bidding to become the first filly to win the Santa Anita Derby since Winning Colors in 1988. Bob Baffert, who has trained three of the last four Santa Anita Derby winners, sends out Mike Pegram's Captain Steve, listed at 8-1. Also 8-1 is Cocky, the only horse in the race without a stakes victory.

Sahadi, despite her accomplishments, says she still hears not-so-subtle suggestions that "some man" must be helping her with her horses.

"Horse racing is still run by good old boys," Sahadi said from her Santa Anita barn. "There are a lot of other woman trainers out here besides me, and every one of them works damned hard and doesn't need any help from anyone. That sure doesn't apply to all the men out here. All I want is to train my horses and be treated with respect. I'm just the same as everyone else, just a regular old trainer. Nothing special."

Sahadi hails from a racing family -- her father, Fred Sahadi, is a prominent breeder who founded Cardiff Stud Farm. After graduating from USC with a double major in journalism and communications, Sahadi worked in the Hollywood Park publicity department for seven years.

She also became romantically involved with Julio Canani, a trainer who was going through a tumultuous divorce. Sahadi became Canani's assistant trainer for three years, then took over many of his horses when he left training to become a bloodstock agent in 1993.

In Sahadi's mind, that was when the innuendo that Canani was still running the operation began.

"It didn't make sense," Sahadi said. "He hardly ever came by the barn. People would drop by to sort of "check up" and see if he was around, and there I'd be doing the training charts. Alone. They never would have done that to a man."

That might be true, according to trainer Alex Hassinger. The nephew of Breeders' Cup founder and Gainesway Farm owner John Gaines, Hassinger now trains Anees, last year's 2-year-old champion.

Hassinger, 37, shot to fame in 1992 when he saddled Allen Paulson's Eliza to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Previously an assistant to Paulson's private trainer, Dick Lundy, Hassinger was appointed head trainer when Lundy and Paulson had an acrimonious and public split earlier that year.

"Let's face it, I was in the right place at the right time," Hassinger said, laughing. "But I never heard any of the insinuations that Jenine has had to put up with. It's rough for women out here, but she's handled it all well."

When searching for a trainer for The Deputy, Team Valor president Barry Irwin took into consideration Sahadi's skill with turf horses -- she has trained several superior grass runners, including Fastness and Grand Flotilla. The Deputy's first six races were on the grass.

"She's the type of trainer who can get a horse to relax and settle into something new," Irwin said. "She's a very, very good trainer with young horses. Most people haven't seen that side of her yet."

Some saw another side of her Thursday morning at the post position draw for the Santa Anita Derby. Sitting on the dais with Baffert and The Deputy's jockey, Chris McCarron, Sahadi became furious when Baffert teasingly said to McCarron, "Who's training the horse, you or Jenine?"

"He has no class," Sahadi said of Baffert, who insisted he was joking with her. "It's probably just insecurity that makes him do it, because he does it to everybody."

Sahadi and Canani broke up two years ago. The following year, she married Ben Cecil, also a trainer.

"It's a little frustrating," she said. "Ben gets a lot of really nice European horses coming in all the time, and I don't get too many. I've just got an average barn, all in all. Some of them are going to work out, and some of them aren't."

Spoken like a regular old trainer, which is what Jenine Sahadi has wanted to be all along.

Published 4/8/2000