Mister Frisky No. 5 on Cinco de Mayo : Horse racing: Colt is installed as 8-5 second pick behind Summer Squall’s 7-5. Barrera sees fifth post position and odds as omens for race.

The post-position draw brought out some contradictions for the 116th Kentucky Derby, which will be run Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Undefeated Mister Frisky, who with 16 victories has the longest streak of any starter in Derby history, seemed to get a better spot than Summer Squall, yet Mike Battaglia, the line maker for Churchill Downs, stayed with his original thinking and made Summer Squall the 7-5 favorite.

Mister Frisky is the second choice at 8-5, and he and Summer Squall give the Derby two horses at less than 2-1 on the morning line for the first time since Alydar was favored over Affirmed in 1978.

There’s another anomaly about this year’s Derby: Although there are two heavily favored colts in the 16-horse field, it is not considered a two-horse race. There are enough reservations about Summer Squall and Mister Frisky to prevent this Derby from becoming an either-or betting situation.

When No. 5 was drawn for Mister Frisky at the post-position ceremonies at the Kentucky Derby Museum Thursday morning, trainer Laz Barrera immediately said: “Cinco cinco de Mayo.”

Later, in English, Barrera said: “We’ve got No. 5, and they’re running the race on the fifth of May. . . . Maybe there is something to that. Also, Bold Forbes was the second choice when he won, and Affirmed was second choice when he won. Maybe this will be my third winner that way.”

Saturday, May 5, is a major holiday in Mexico, where the Cuban-born Barrera is in the racing Hall of Fame.

When Bold Forbes gave Barrera his first Derby victory in 1976, Honest Pleasure, who ran second, was favored. And when Affirmed won the 1978 Derby en route to his Triple Crown sweep, Alydar was favored.

Neil Howard, Summer Squall’s trainer, could find little positive to say about his horse drawing No. 14.

“It’s something you have no control over,” Howard said. “It’s no secret that we would have preferred to be farther in, but at least we’re in the main gate.”

The main gate at Churchill Downs can accommodate 14 horses, which means two horses--in this case, Land Rush and Power Lunch, both trained by Wayne Lukas--must break from an auxiliary gate, considered a disadvantage. Two horses, however, overcame the auxiliary-gate onus in recent years, Gato Del Sol winning from the next-to-outside stall in 1982, and Swale winning from the 15th spot in 1984.

“When I heard our number, it shook me up at first,” Howard said. “I’ll probably worry a little bit about it, but when they break (Saturday), I’ll forget it and just watch the race.”

Barrera sees the No. 5 spot as a perfect post for his jockey, Gary Stevens, to place Mister Frisky where he wants him in the early going.

“I won’t give Gary any instructions,” Barrera said. “I’ll let Gary worry about (strategy) from the saddle. We’ve got a speed horse (Real Cash) outside us, but that’s OK. We’ll be able to lay wherever Gary wants to be.”

Mister Frisky is likely to be running right behind the pace-setters at the start of the race. Summer Squall, who might have been setting the pace under Pat Day, now must be concerned with the speed horses inside him--Burnt Hills, Thirty Six Red, Fighting Fantasy and Real Cash.

To be ahead of or just to keep up with any of those horses, Day will have to break Summer Squall quickly and angle him toward the inside. It’s not an enviable assignment for Day, who despite winning more races than any jockey at Churchill Downs, is winless with seven Derby mounts.

Shot Gun Scott was not entered in the Derby, after developing a cough late last month and then not training well this week at Churchill Downs.

With 16 starters in the 1 1/4-mile race, the total purse is $766,000, with $591,000 going to the winner. All of the horses will carry 126 pounds. Here’s the lineup, in post-position order, with jockeys and morning-line odds:

Dr. Bobby A., Nick Santagata, 50-1; Killer Diller, James Bruin, 50-1; Pendleton Ridge, Laffit Pincay, 20-1; Video Ranger, Ron Hansen, 30-1; Mister Frisky, Gary Stevens, 8-5; Real Cash, Alex Solis, 8-1; Fighting Fantasy, Shane Sellers, 50-1; Country Day, Jose Santos, 50-1; Unbridled, Craig Perret, 12-1; Pleasant Tap, Kent Desormeaux, 30-1; Silver Ending, Chris McCarron, 12-1; Thirty Six Red, Mike Smith, 10-1; Burnt Hills, Pat Valenzuela, 20-1; Summer Squall, Pat Day, 7-5; Land Rush, Angel Cordero, 8-1, and Power Lunch, Randy Romero, 8-1.

Lukas’ three horses--Land Rush, Real Cash and Power Lunch--are considered an entry in the betting, as are Burnt Hills and Pendleton Ridge, because they are both trained by Bobby Frankel. Bettors also get Country Day and Dr. Bobby A. together, because they make up the mutuel field.

A favorite hasn’t won the Derby since Spectacular Bid in 1979, and Day has failed to win with two recent favorites: Demons Begone in 1987 and Easy Goer last year.

Day won four races at Churchill Downs Thursday, ending the afternoon with a track-record 928 victories. Don Brumfield, who retired last year to take a job in Kentucky as a racing official, rode 925 winners here.

“I’m always an optimist,” Day said. “Rather than dwell on the seven rides I didn’t win, I like to think that I’m fortunate to have been in the Derby seven times. There are only 16 riders riding in this year’s Derby out of about 2,000 jockeys around the country, and I’m one of them.”

Asked to anticipate the Derby, Day said: “There are three or four horses in there that have good speed. There’s Burnt Hills, Thirty Six Red, Mister Frisky and that one horse of Wayne Lukas’ (Real Cash).

“I expect to be third or fourth or fifth going into the first turn. I hope to be clocking the leaders, just like we did in the Jim Beam (the race Summer Squall won at Turfway Park on March 31).”

The post position may be a problem for Summer Squall, but if the Derby comes up muddy for the second consecutive year, the off going won’t hurt the chances of Day’s mount. On Thursday, the Churchill track started out muddy and wound up fast, but more rain is forecast for today and there’s a 30% chance of showers early Saturday.

Barrera says that Mister Frisky can handle mud, too.

“He won three times in the mud in Puerto Rico. And if you can run in the mud in Puerto Rico, you can handle it anywhere,” he said.

Why is that?

“Because when it rains in Puerto Rico, it rains, “ Barrera said.

Horse Racing Notes

Jockey Ron Hansen is denying that he and his wife were married in the nude. In The Times on Thursday, he was reported as saying that he and his wife, Renee, were married last December without any clothes on by a minister similarly unattired. Hansen told the story to several reporters. In Thursday’s San Francisco Examiner, however, Hansen was quoted as saying: “It (the nude wedding) didn’t happen. I don’t know where people get stories like that. It was a pretty basic wedding, actually. We were both wearing clothes.”

Gary Stevens was unseated by his mount, Patches, during the post parade of Thursday’s La Troienne Stakes at Churchill, but he escaped serious injury. Patches, the 3-2 favorite in the race for 3-year-old fillies, ran off after dumping Stevens and was scratched. . . . Pat Day rode Screen Prospect to a three-length victory in the La Troienne.

Yankee Affair is favored to beat Ten Keys on the grass today in the $150,000 Early Times Turf Classic at Churchill. A Penny Is a Penny heads the field in the $150,000 Louisville Breeders’ Cup Stakes for fillies and mares, and Go for Wand will be odds-on against 10 other 3-year-old fillies in the $200,000 Kentucky Oaks.

POST POSITIONS

Pos. Horse Jockey Trainer 1. f-Dr. Bobby A. Nick Santagata Stephen Di Mauro 2. Killer Diller James Bruin Frank Alexander 3. a-Pendleton Ridge Laffit Pincay Bobby Frankel 4. Video Ranger Ron Hansen Ian Jory 5. Mister Frisky Gary Stevens Laz Barrera 6. b-Real Cash Alex Solis Wayne Lukas 7. Fighting Fantasy Shane Sellers John Churchman Jr. 8. f-Country Day Jose Santos John Parisella 9. Unbridled Craig Perret Carl Nafzger 10. Pleasant Tap Kent Desormeaux Chris Speckert 11. Silver Ending Chris McCarron Ron McAnally 12. Thirty Six Red Mike Smith Nick Zito 13. a-Burnt Hills Pat Valenzuela Bobby Frankel 14. Summer Squall Pat Day Neil Howard 15. b-Land Rush Angel Cordero Wayne Lukas 16. b-Power Lunch Randy Romero Wayne Lukas

a-Bobby Frankel trained entry; b-Wayne Lukas trained entry; f-mutuel field