NEW ORLEANS – The consistency of Mike Stidham, who leads the trainers’ race this season at Fair Grounds, stands out. Stidham, who typically finishes in the top 10 in the local standings, for years has maintained a solid ranking nationally in both trainer purse earnings and victories. In each of the last 12 years, for example, Stidham was among the top 100 trainers in earnings. Five times in the last six years, he ranked in the top 50. And in 10 of the last 12 years, he was in the top 100 trainers in wins. “It’s been pretty steady,’’ said Stidham, 58, who has wintered at Fair Grounds since the mid-1990s. “I’ve had a good client base since I’ve moved to the Midwest. I’ve been supported by the breeders, and the owners have stuck with me. I’m very thankful for a lot of good people staying behind me. The owners don’t get enough credit. The owners are the ones who make the game go. I’m very lucky to have good people, good help. It’s not about me.’’ Until this meet, Stidham had made only one serious run at the local training title. In the 1999-2000 season, he won 39 races here and finished second in the standings, three wins behind Tom Amoss. Surprisingly to Stidham, he has led most of the way this season. Through Thursday, with 20 racing days left, Stidham had won with 27 of 125 starters (22 percent). He led Amoss and Brad Cox, who were tied for second place, by three wins. This is the 10th Fair Grounds meet in which Stidham has won at least 20 races. “Going into this meet, I did not think that we’d have anything near this kind of meet,’’ Stidham said. “Everything has fallen into place.’’ One explanation, he said, is that he has “a more diverse stable’’ this season. In some meets, he said, his stable tilted toward allowance and stakes runners. This season, he said, his 60-horse stable has depth in claimers. Stidham, like any successful trainer, has been able to find the right spots for horses. For instance, after the Louisiana-bred gelding Jockamo’s Song won a maiden race, Stidham decided to run him in the Louisiana Champions Day Sprint. The class hike wasn’t a problem. Jockamo’s Song won. “When things are going right, that’s the kind of move that works for you,’’ Stidham said. On the Risen Star card last weekend, Stidham gave the 3-year-old filly Shaken a shot at the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra, and she showed that she belonged. Coming off a sprint victory against maidens in her debut, Shaken finished third, 1 1/2 lengths behind the winner, Venus Valentine. Unfortunately, Shaken is off the Fair Grounds Oaks trail. She fractured a knee and was to have surgery at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., to have a screw inserted, Stidham said. “When things are falling into place, they’re not always going great for you,’’ he said. Stidham, who saddled his first winner in 1980, has 1,608 wins, including Grade 1 victories with the fillies Her Emmynency, Sutra, and Two Altazano. Among his favorite runners, he said, were multiple graded winners Upperline, Willcox Inn, and Manzotti, the sire of Two Altazano. Manzotti gave an early boost to Stidham’s career. Stidham went to France in 1986 to find a horse for owner-breeder Harold Goodman to race in the United States and eventually stand at stud in Texas. They bought Manzotti for $150,000. Manzotti, who won eight of 24 U.S. starts, gave Stidham his first graded victory in the Grade 3 John B. Campbell Handicap at Pimlico in 1988. Two Altazano, who was in Manzotti’s first foal crop, won the Coaching Club American Oaks in 1994, giving Stidham his first Grade 1 win. Now, he has a chance to win his first Fair Grounds training title. “Just because this is home to me, I would like to win it,’’ said Stidham, who lives near the track. “But if we don’t, we’ve had a great meet. We’re just going to keep entering horses and keep doing what we’re doing.’’