Some Take Long Way Around : Breeders’ Cup: History says an inside position is best, but a few strong horses will start from the outside.

Several strong horses drew seemingly unfavorable post positions Wednesday for Saturday’s ninth running of the Breeders’ Cup at Gulfstream Park, where horses breaking from the inside won four of the five dirt races when the series made a stop here in 1989.

Sea Cadet, a speed horse who thrives on the Gulfstream racing strip, didn’t draw a post position at all. A $360,000 supplementary entrant in the Breeders’ Cup’s showcase race, the $3-million Classic, Sea Cadet was lame in his stall after a morning gallop, and trainer Ron McAnally scratched him before entries were drawn about three hours later.

Sea Cadet’s owner, Verne Winchell, forfeits the first third of the supplementary payment, $120,000, which was made 10 days ago.

Pleasant Tap, who has four victories and four seconds in his last eight starts, was installed as the 3-1 Classic favorite by Chuck Streva, the Gulfstream linemaker. A.P. Indy, who had won seven in a row, including the Belmont Stakes, before finishing fifth and third in his last two races, is the second choice at 4-1. Third on the morning line is Rodrigo De Triano, the English standout who will be running on dirt for the first time.

Pleasant Tap, who needs to be roused by his jockey to stay close to the leaders early in a race, drew the No. 13 post in a 14-horse field. A.P. Indy is in good shape with No. 4, but Rodrigo De Triano will break from No. 11.

When the Breeders’ Cup was held here three years ago, Sunday Silence won the Classic from the outside post, but that was in a field of only eight horses. Pleasant Tap’s stall assignment will probably force jockey Gary Stevens to take back early, then try to make a big late run. Such tactics led to two of the defeats the 5-year-old suffered this year.

The only time Stevens rode Pleasant Tap, in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on Oct. 10, they raced in the middle of the pack before making a winning move on the stretch turn.

In the other four Breeders’ Cup dirt races in 1989, Bayakoa won the Distaff from post No. 1; Dancing Spree took the Sprint from No. 2; Rhythm captured the Juvenile from No. 3 and Go For Wand was first in the Juvenile Fillies from No. 4. Top horses such as Safely Kept, Gorgeous and Grand Canyon finished second in their races after breaking from post No. 9 or farther out.

In the two grass races here in 1989, the post positions did not seem to be a factor.

Three of Saturday’s favorites--Paseana, Eliza and Rubiano--drew tough post positions. The McAnally-trained Paseana, who with her entrymate, Exchange, is 3-1 in the Distaff, has the outside stall in a 14-horse field. Eliza, who is 5-2 in the Juvenile Fillies, has No. 9 among 12 horses; and Rubiano, 5-2 in the Sprint after winning eight of nine starts going back to last fall, is No. 10, breaking inside of four horses.

Sidney and Jenny Craig, who race Paseana, Exchange and Dr Devious, a contender in the Turf, also are part owners of Bistro Garden, who is running in the Mile. Bistro Garden will break from the outside in a 14-horse field.

After two of the Craigs’ horses drew No. 14, Hal King, who manages their racing interests, looked at Sidney Craig and said: “What are the chances of that?”

“I’ll tell you what the odds are,” Craig said. “Multiply 14 by 14 and you’ll get it.”

The other favorites on a day when $10 million will be earned in Breeders’ Cup purses are Selkirk, England’s best miler, who is 3-1 in the Mile; Sky Classic, the Canadian grass star, who is 5-2 in the Turf; and Gilded Time, the well-traveled California-based colt who is 3-1 in the Juvenile.

Arazi, who won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last year at Churchill Downs, may go off the favorite in the Mile after a debate among his trainer and owners about whether to run on grass or in the 1 1/4-mile Classic on dirt.

A disappointment since his victory last year, Arazi drew the No. 3 post, but in his case the inside could be a disadvantage. Arazi usually doesn’t run fast early, and he might get shuffled far back in a full field. Traditionally, the Mile has been won by horses not far off the pace.

Five of the seven races have capacity fields of 14. If all 92 horses start, the record of 90, set last year, will be broken.

Sea Cadet would have been starter No. 93. At 5:30 Wednesday morning, the telephone rang at his owner’s home in Las Vegas.

“I looked at the clock and knew that it wasn’t our stockbroker,” said Joan Winchell, the wife of Sea Cadet’s owner and breeder. On the other end was Ron McAnally, calling from Gulfstream with the bad news about Sea Cadet.

“After the gallop, there was a filling (swelling) in the left hind hock (back of the knee),” McAnally said later. “We’ll have X-rays taken, but I don’t think it’s a serious injury. We considered still entering him and seeing how he responded to treatment between now and the race, but that wouldn’t have been fair to the other horses (on the alternates’ list). By getting out now, we’ll give somebody else a chance to run.”

Had Sea Cadet been entered and then scratched, Winchell would have received a refund on the $240,000 balance to his $360,000 supplementary fee. This is the second time that a client of McAnally’s supplemented a horse into the Breeders’ Cup and missed the race because of an injury. In 1984, for the Turf at Hollywood Park, John Henry was scratched the day after his owner, Sam Rubin, made a non-refundable payment of $133,000.

Sea Cadet is the third defection from the Classic. Arazi, who was double-entered, has landed in the Mile; St. Jovite, winner of the Irish Derby, was declared last week because of a sinus infection. These developments have enabled Jolie’s Halo, Reign Road and Jolypha to move into the starting field.