THOROUGHBRED RACING : Trainer Dials S for Stewards: Connection Gets Correction

Horsemen and racing officials around the country are chuckling about the shrewd maneuver trainer Ernie Poulos pulled last month in Chicago. At the same time, they are wondering if the sport’s rules need to be rewritten, simply to keep pace with technology.

“I’ve never heard of it before,” said Tommy Trotter, a steward at Keeneland, after being told that the resourceful Poulos had phoned in a foul claim 35 miles from the track where the race was run.

Poulos, who trained Black Tie Affair, the horse of the year for 1991, was recently watching the races from Sportsman’s Park at the off-track betting facility at Arlington International Racecourse.

A horse trained by Poulos ran last in an eight-horse field, but on the TV screen at Arlington it appeared to the trainer that his runner had been fouled by the horse that ran second.

Poulos called the stewards at Arlington and made the claim. After a review of the race, the stewards dropped the second-place finisher to last place, and moved Poulos’ horse to seventh. The change did not make a difference to Poulos in purse money--he still got nothing--but the incident could have ramifications.

“How did the stewards know that it was really the trainer calling?” asked Dave Samuel, a veteran racing official at Santa Anita. “It could have been anybody.”

The answer is that anyone who has talked to Poulos would recognize the trainer’s gravelly voice and his monosyllabic style. But not every trainer has such a distinctive voice.

“We run into this at scratch time in the mornings,” Samuel said. “An owner will call in and try to scratch a horse, but we’re not able to tell who it is. We have to tell them to have their trainer call, to make sure the scratch is legitimate. You can’t take a chance otherwise.”

So Ernie Poulos might be responsible for a change in the rules of racing in Illinois and elsewhere. The revised rule might read: “Any owner, trainer or jockey is allowed to make a claim of foul . . . if present.” The last two words would be new.

When the entries were drawn Thursday for Saturday’s $500,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, track oddsmaker Mike Battaglia asked Chris Burrell of Oaktown Stable: “How much are you guys going to bet on your horse?”

“We don’t (bet a lot) anymore,” Burrell said.

“Well, if you did and I knew, I might want to make the line on your horse even lower than it is,” Battaglia said.

The Oaktown outfit, which includes rap star Hammer, Burrell’s brother, has been known to bet thousands on its horses. The last time Dance Floor ran, finishing second to Technology in the Florida Derby, Hammer cashed two checks at Gulfstream Park, one for $70,000 and the other for $20,000. He said that he broke even for the day.

Hammer will be here Saturday to watch Dance Floor run against 10 opponents in the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass, his final tuneup for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 2. Dance Floor bled internally in the Florida Derby and will run in the Blue Grass with a medication that curbs bleeding.

Battaglia has made Dance Floor the 9-5 favorite. Here’s the field, starting at the rail:

Dash for Dotty, Eddie Delahoussaye riding, 12-1; Ecstatic Ride, Gerard Melancon, 20-1; Conte Di Savoya, Shane Sellers, 20-1; Just Like Perfect, Allen Stacy, 12-1; Tank’s Number, Jorge Velasquez, 15-1; Dance Floor, Chris Antley, 9-5; Line In The Sand, Pat Day, 8-1; Binalong, Craig Perret, 10-1; Saint Ballado, Jim McKnight, 8-l; Colony Light, Julie Krone, 8-1; and Pistols And Roses, Jacinto Vasquez, 7-2.

All of the Blue Grass starters will carry 121 pounds, five less than in the Kentucky Derby. At Golden Gate Fields on Saturday, when the $300,000 California Derby is run, the weights will be determined by a horse’s credentials. The most any of them will shoulder is 115 pounds.

Arp, who drew the outside in an 11-horse California Derby field, has been installed as the 2-1 favorite, ahead of Disposal at 3-1 and Treekster at 5-1.

Treekster will break from the inside. The rest of the lineup consists of America the Free, Finder’s Fortune, Heat Shield, Disposal, Chain of Life, Bright Day Bob, Western Man, Bold Assert, Forest Rain and Arp.

The American Championship Racing Series, a nine-race competition that offers bonus money of $1.5 million to the four horses with the most points for high finishes, resumes Saturday with race No. 3, the $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap at Arkansas.

Best Pal, the winner of the Santa Anita Handicap, and Sea Cadet, first in the Donn Handicap, are the series leaders. They entered with five other horses Thursday, but Best Pal is doubtful because of an abscessed foot. Earlier this year, Best Pal was bothered by a cracked hoof, which was patched and was not a factor in the Big ‘Cap.

Best Pal, who will carry 125 pounds and be ridden by Kent Desormeaux, drew the No. 6 post, with Twilight Agenda, at 123 pounds and with Chris McCarron aboard, the only horse outside him. Fly So Free has the rail, and next to him are Jarraar, Sea Cadet, Total Assets and Crafty Cash.

Santa Anita will accept bets on telecasts of the Blue Grass and the Oaklawn Handicap.

Horse Racing Notes

The live feature at Santa Anita Saturday is the $100,000 San Pedro Stakes, for 3-year-olds going six furlongs. The nine horses entered are Star Of The Crop, Slerp, Scherando, B.G.’s Drone, Prince Wild, Carrie’s Style, Sondheimer, Never Round and Hail Wilder. Reckless Ruckus, who would have been one of the favorites, broke down in a workout last Saturday and had to be destroyed. Reckless Ruckus had won the Baldwin Stakes on March 25.

The Blue Grass has produced 20 Kentucky Derby winners, among them Unbridled and Strike The Gold the last two years. . . . Angel Cordero, seriously injured in a spill at Aqueduct earlier this season, says he will see his doctor one more time, on April 25, and then make a decision about riding some more or starting a career as a trainer. . . . Cordero’s hunch pick in the Blue Grass is Colony Light, who was disqualified for interference after winning the Louisiana Derby.