THOROUGHBRED RACING : Paulson Says Wrong Number Prompts His Suit Against Two

The way the story goes, William J. Condren, one of the owners of 1991 Kentucky Derby winner Strike The Gold, called Allen Paulson several weeks ago.

“Did you get my $240,000?” Condren is supposed to have asked.

The call was in reference to the sale of Loach, the 4-year-old colt that Condren and his partner, Joseph M. Cornacchia, had bought from Paulson.

And out of such phone calls, lawsuits apparently grow.

Paulson has gone to court, alleging that his former trainer, Dick Lundy, had told the buyers that the price for Loach was $240,000, while he was telling Paulson that the horse had been sold for $175,000. That’s a difference of $65,000.

According to the suit, which also names Stephen Grod, a bloodstock agent in Costa Mesa, there was an even larger discrepancy when Paulson bought four European horses in 1990. The suit says that Paulson was quoted a $1.3-million purchase price by Lundy, but the horses were actually acquired for $450,000. This resulted, the suit says, in an “illegal profit” of $850,000 for Lundy and Grod.

Without specifically naming other horse deals, the suit says that Paulson is out more than $1.1 million because of the Loach deal, the European purchase and “other similar transactions.”

Regarding the other horses, Paulson says in the suit that Lundy told him he had some “virtually worthless” stock and advised that the horses be sold to Grod “at nominal prices.” Then, the suit goes on, the horses were “resold by Grod . . . without disclosure to Paulson, at substantial profits” for Lundy and Grod.

Anyone who has ever been involved in a horse deal will be avidly following this case to its conclusion. Someone once said that the expression caveat emptor was coined during the first sale of a horse. Frequently when a horse is sold for a big price, there are remarks throughout the industry about the complexity of the transaction. There reportedly were four bloodstock agents involved this year when an important horse was bought for a seven-figure sum.

For the flip side, there is the Sam Rubin story.

In 1978, Rubin, an international bicycle distributor trying to get over the death of his first wife, casually mentioned in the Belmont Park dining room that he was in the market for a $25,000 horse. The antennae of bloodstock agents within a 50-mile radius picked up the signal, and before the day was over, Rubin had bought--sight unseen--a cranky, sore-legged 3-year-old gelding in Kentucky for $25,000.

The rest of the story was strictly Hollywood. The unwanted John Henry went on to earn more than $6 million while racing for Rubin and twice was voted horse of the year.

There was no John Henry in the quartet of horses that Paulson bought--for either $1.3 million or $450,000--two years ago. They were well-bred--two were sons of Roberto and another was sired by Mr. Prospector--and one had first been sold at a yearling auction for $750,000.

In a telephone interview, Stephen Grod remembered what Lundy had told him about Hail Caesar, one of the Robertos who was originally sold for $350,000 as a yearling.

“Dick said that he had the ability to be as good as Jade Hunter,” Grod said. “But then he got hurt.”

The Lundy-trained Jade Hunter won major races in 1988 and now stands at stud at Paulson’s farm in Versailles, Ky.

At issue in the lawsuit, however, is not how the horses performed, but what their actual cost was and whether Lundy and Grod were working both sides of the street.

Lundy, who was with Paulson for 3 1/2 years, was fired on July 6 and has been unavailable for comment.

“This is a frivolous suit,” Grod said. “My attorney questions its validity and doesn’t see how it will ever go to (trial).

“The whole thing is embarrassing, because I didn’t do anything wrong. There’s a good chance that I will be filing a counter-suit. I’m an independent agent. What I do is my own business.”

Bien Bien’s future may be on grass, but he will be on dirt at Hollywood Park on Saturday, opposing six other 3-year-olds in the $200,000 Swaps Stakes at 1 1/4 miles.

In his last start, Bien Bien won the Cinema Handicap on grass, the same stake that his sire, Manila, won in 1986.

Crivasik, the French horse who was a distant fifth in the Cinema while making his first American start, drew the No. 1 post for the Swaps, with David Flores riding and the weight 119 pounds. Hudlam’s Sidekick is next, with Pat Valenzuela and 119 pounds. The rest of the lineup is Bien Bien, Chris McCarron, 119; Capote Magique, Eddie Delahoussaye, 119; Natural Nine, Laffit Pincay, 123; Treekster, Gary Boulanger, 123; and Sevengreenpairs, Felipe Martinez, 119.

Pincay won his first Swaps in 1974, with Woodlands Pines and will try to add his sixth victory in the stake with Natural Nine, who won the Silver Screen Handicap on July 5.

Four California-based jockeys will be at Arlington International in suburban Chicago on Saturday to ride in the 14-horse American Derby. There will be betting at Hollywood Park on the 1 3/16-mile grass race.

Californians riding are Gary Stevens, who will be aboard Standiford for his American debut; Alex Solis, who is assigned to Nijinsky’s Gold; Corey Nakatani, astride Free at Last; and Russell Baze, whose mount is Star Recruit.

Danny Sorenson rode The Name’s Jimmy to victory in the Will Rogers Handicap at Hollywood two months ago, but Pat Day will be aboard Saturday. The Colt drew the No. 7 post and is a 5-2 favorite.

Daily Racing Form statistics through mid-July listed Baze as the No. 1 jockey in the country, based on victories. He had 233, followed by Edgar Prado, with 210; Kent Desormeaux, 195; Mark Guidry, 194, and Day, 184. Desormeaux and McCarron are in a tight race for the money title, with Desormeaux leading by about $100,000 at $7.5 million. Then there’s a drop to Day in third place with $6.4 million.

Horse Racing Notes

Three men, apparently trying to steal a car in the Hollywood Park parking lot, were taken into custody by Inglewood police Thursday. Two of the suspects fired shots at Hollywood security personnel before they were caught about four blocks from the track. The third suspect was arrested in the parking lot.

The Chris McCarron-Laffit Pincay trial won’t go to the jury until next week. The jockeys are suing their former business managers. . . . Trainer Charlie Whittingham has gone over the $100-million mark in purses. Wayne Lukas, who in 1990 became the first trainer to hit $100 million, is past the $130-million mark.