Jockeying for Position a Problem : Breeders’ Cup: Belmont Park’s 1 1/2-mile track puts several Classic horses at a distinct disadvantage, including morning-line favorite Dispersal.

The unfortunate thing about Saturday’s $3-million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Belmont Park is that post positions figure to play too important a role. And Dispersal, the morning-line favorite, may well pay the penalty for his.

When post positions for the 14-horse Classic and the six other Breeders’ Cup races were picked Wednesday at Belmont, Dispersal came up with No. 12.

The track handicapper has made the Woodward Handicap winner a 4-1 favorite, but the 4-year-old colt’s chances seem to have been severely compromised by the bad luck of the draw.

The Classic is run at 1 1/4 miles, and because Belmont’s racing oval is 1 1/2 miles--the largest in the country--the start of the race will be at an awkward angle, about an eighth of a mile into the clubhouse turn. Horses without speed on the inside are at a slight disadvantage in a large field, but horses from the seventh spot out have a bigger handicap. They are giving up a lot of ground--at least two lengths--and need to be hustled into position by their jockeys.

Before the Classic draw, all of the trainers were hoping that their horses would be no farther out than the No. 6 spot. Soon after the start, there is almost a dogleg left before the horses have a chance to accelerate.

Dispersal has won most of his races on the lead and will need to be gunned out of the gate by jockey Chris Antley. But it’s quite possible that such a forced maneuver could hurt Dispersal at the other end of the race, because the colt’s stamina has been questioned beyond 1 1/8 miles.

Dispersal hasn’t run 1 1/4 miles this year, and last year at this distance he was a tiring second in both the American Derby and the Super Derby. Bud Delp, Dispersal’s trainer, considered running Saturday in the six-furlong, $1-million Sprint. Despite a rocky start, Dispersal was third, beaten by only half a length, in last year’s Sprint.

So why is Dispersal the favorite in the Classic? Well, some horse has to be favored, and this Classic is the weakest in the seven-year history of the Breeders’ Cup, having been reduced by the injuries to Sunday Silence, Easy Goer and Criminal Type.

Beyond Dispersal, Saturday’s lineup is a collection of horses either trying to redeem themselves or attempting to make a name for themselves. Of a different context altogether is Ibn Bey, the 6-year-old from Great Britain with no racing experience on dirt and only one start this year.

New York’s no-Lasix rule has kept Preakness winner Summer Squall, a bleeder, from running.

Quiet American, who lost by only 1 1/4 lengths to Dispersal in the 1 1/8-mile Woodward, would have stood a good chance of winning, but the Breeders’ Cup’s international selection panel excluded him as a starter.

Trainer Gary Jones has repeatedly challenged the panel’s logic and can only start his horse if another horse scratches. Even then, Quiet American would wind up with the outside post.

The morning line includes Quiet American and Defensive Play, another horse on the also-eligible list, and Quiet American’s odds are listed at 8-1 with four other betting interests, leaving that group behind only Dispersal, Rhythm at 9-2 and Flying Continental at 5-1.

Flying Continental, winner of Belmont’s Jockey Club Gold Cup, 1 1/4 miles like the Classic, likes to come from just off the pace and seems nicely placed in the No. 6 post. Rhythm’s style, changed since early in the year, is to come from far behind and he drew No. 7.

The others at 8-1 are Izvestia (No. 1 post), Go and Go (No. 9), Lively One (No. 11) and the Carl Nafzger-trained entry of Unbridled (No. 14) and Home at Last (No. 5). Go and Go, in this country from overseas for the third time in a year, won the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes on June 9, but two months later was a dismal seventh in the Travers at Saratoga.

In 23 races at 1 1/4 miles at Belmont this season, horses breaking from post Nos. 5 through 9 have won only three.

Izvestia, the Canadian Triple Crown champion this year, has capable early speed and shouldn’t be bothered by breaking from the rail Saturday. However, Unbridled--winless in stakes competition since his Kentucky Derby victory in May--faces the prospect of being only the third winner from the outside post in any Breeders’ Cup race. Because Unbridled is a closer, Nafzger feels that his colt’s starting position isn’t as poor as Dispersal’s.

“We’ve got Pat Day riding, and he’s the most patient jockey around,” Nafzger said. . . .”

Besides the poor post position, there is a question of Dispersal’s soundness. Coming out of the gate in the Woodward on Sept. 15, Dispersal kicked himself, opening a wound that took six stitches to close. There was also hoof damage, known as a quarter crack, and that has been sealed with a fiberglass patch.

Delp says he wouldn’t be running Dispersal if the colt were not 100%. He may need to be 110% to overcome that No. 12 post position.

Breeders’ Cup Notes

With 87 horses running, not counting four on also-eligible lists, the $10-million Breeders’ Cup has four full fields of 14 apiece--the Classic, the Mile, the Sprint and the Juvenile Fillies. . . . The smallest field is the eight fillies and mares running in the Distaff. The Juvenile drew 12 entrants and the Turf will have 11 starters.

The favorites besides Dispersal are Saumarez at 3-1 in the Turf, Steinlen at 3-1 in the Mile, Go for Wand at even money in the Distaff, Dayjur at 7-2 in the Sprint, Fly So Free at 5-2 in the Juvenile and Meadow Star at 3-5 in the Juvenile Fillies. . . . A sampling of other odds: Dancing Spree at 6-1, and Corwyn Bay at 8-1 in the Sprint; Lite Light at 5-1 (second choice) in the Juvenile Fillies; Bayakoa at 6-5 in the Distaff; Best Pal at 3-1 in the Juvenile Colts and Geldings.

There were sunny skies here Wednesday, a chance of more rain today. The forecast for Saturday is for temperatures in the 50s, with clear skies. Belmont has been hit by seven inches of rain in the last two weeks. If it doesn’t rain today, the main track should be fast Saturday and the turf course should be between good and soft.