Arazi Will Have to Take the Long Way Around : Horse racing: Kentucky Derby favorite draws 18th post position in 19-horse field. Second choice, A.P. Indy, draws No. 16.

Arazi, who probably will be the shortest price in the Kentucky Derby since Spectacular Bid was 3-5 in 1979, drew a dreaded outside post--No. 18--as 19 horses were entered Thursday for the race Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Swale, breaking from the 15th stall, won the 1984 Derby only two years after Gato Del Sol, at 21-1, had scored a shocking victory by looping the field from No. 18. The only other Derby winner who started from outside No. 14, however, was the gelding Clyde Van Dusen, who broke from the 20th post in a 21-horse field in 1927.

Trainer Francois Boutin did not seem to mind Arazi’s post, but the French colt’s gate position is another obstacle for him to overcome. The other doubts about Arazi are his surgically repaired knees and a pre-Derby campaign that consists of one race, a mile victory in France against second-rate opposition a month ago.

Mike Battaglia, who has been handicapping the Derby for Churchill Downs since 1975, installed Arazi as the 6-5 favorite for the 1 1/4-mile race, which is worth $984,800 to the first four finishers, $734,800 to the winner, and millions in terms of a horse’s value as a breeding stallion.

Arazi, who has eight victories and a second in nine starts, including an overpowering victory in his only American race, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile here six months ago, is expected to go off much lower than 6-5.

“I made him 6-5 because those are the only numbers I know in French,” Battaglia said. “Seriously, it wouldn’t surprise me if the public sent him off lower Saturday, but off of only one race as a 3-year-old and because of the No. 18 post, that’s the number I came up with.”

The outside post in a 14-horse field was no detriment for the late-running Arazi in the Breeders’ Cup, a 1 1/16-mile race in which there is a shorter run to the first turn.

Before the draw, Boutin envisioned how the race might go.

“I see him on the outside, without any problems,” the French-speaking trainer said. “Pat (Valenzuela) knows how to ride him.”

When Jerry Botts, Churchill Downs’ vice president for racing, conducted the draw in the track’s Kentucky Derby Museum on Thursday, the place was wall-to-wall people, and Arazi’s name was the last of the 19 horses drawn.

“I prefer to be outside rather than inside,” Boutin said. “In general, I’m always happy about any position, because you can’t do anything about it, anyway. If I could choose, I would rather get No. 18 than No. 2.”

The post position also was not favorable for A.P. Indy, the Santa Anita Derby winner who is the 7-2 second choice. When Botts announced that A.P. Indy had drawn No. 16, Eddie Nahem, one of the owners of the longshot Disposal, held up his left hand, opened and closed it and said, “Bye-bye.”

Disposal, one of the probable pace-setters in the Derby, drew the worst spot of all, No. 19.

“I’m speechless,” his trainer, Bruce Headley, said.

Here’s the lineup for the 118th Derby, in post-position order:

Al Sabin, Technology, Snappy Landing, Casual Lies, Thyer, Devil His Due, Pistols And Roses, Conte Di Savoya, Sir Pinder, Lil E. Tee, West By West, Pine Bluff, Ecstatic Ride, My Luck Runs North, Dr Devious, A.P. Indy, Dance Floor, Arazi and Disposal.

All of them will carry the standard Derby weight, 126 pounds. A crowd of more than 100,000 is expected, with the forecast calling for a high temperature near 80 degrees and a 30% chance of a thundershower in the late morning or early afternoon.

After Arazi and A.P. Indy, the morning-line odds go up to Technology, the Florida Derby winner, at 8-1. Next come the seven parimutuel field horses--Disposal, Ecstatic Ride, My Luck Runs North, Sir Pinder, Snappy Landing, Thyer and West By West--at 10-1. These are the horses judged by Battaglia to have the least chance of winning, but they are given relatively low odds because many fans will bet them for the chance of getting seven runners for the price of one. The last field horse to hit the board was Avies Copy, who went off at 24-1 and paid $6.80 to show in 1987.

Pine Bluff, the Arkansas Derby winner, is 12-1, and after him come Pistols And Roses, Dr Devious and Devil His Due at 15-1; Lil E. Tee, Casual Lies and the Wayne Lukas-trained entry of Dance Floor and Al Sabin at 20-1 and Conte Di Savoya, 30-1.

Dick Lundy, the trainer in the United States for Allen Paulson, the co-owner of Arazi, says that the pocket-sized colt’s post position isn’t a factor.

“Even if a horse doesn’t break as sharp as you want him to from out there, he still has a chance to get in the race,” Lundy said. “You can watch those horses inside you and see what they’re doing.

“If you draw down inside, you’re worried about getting an early position and trying not to get pinched back and covered up real bad. Arazi’s not a bullet out of the gate, so he’s better off on the outside. The horses are sorting themselves out the first time through the stretch, and that’s when they can get pinched.”

Derby Draw

The field for Saturday’s 118th Kentucky Derby, with post position, horse’s name, jockey’s name and odds:

Post, Horse Jockey Odds 1. a-Al Sabin Nakatani 20-1 2. Technology Bailey 8-1 3. f-Snappy Landing Velasquez 10-1 4. Casual Lies Stevens 20-1 5. f-Thyer Roche 10-1 6. Devil His Due Smith 15-1 7. Pistols And Roses Vasquez 15-1 8. Conte Di Savoya Sellers 30-1 9. f-Sir Pinder Romero 10-1 10. Lil E. Tee Day 20-1 11. f-West By West Samyn 10-1 12. Pine Bluff Perret 12-1 13. f-Ecstatic Ride Krone 10-1 14. f-My Luck Runs North Lopez 10-1 15. Dr Devious McCarron 15-1 16. A.P. Indy Delahoussaye 7-2 17. a-Dance Floor Antley 20-1 18. Arazi Valenzuela 6-5 19. f-Disposal Solis 10-1

a-Wayne Lukas trained entry.

f-mutuel field.