DREAM FULFILLED IN MALIBU STAKES.

Byline: Brad Nelson Daily News Staff Writer

It all started about 10 years ago with a chance meeting of two former University of Kentucky football players in the infield at Churchill Downs. Two guys talking about how great it would be to own a racehorse.

For Greg Long and Dominick Sabatino, the competitive juices were flowing again Thursday afternoon as they watched 12-1 shot King of the Heap, their 3-year-old colt, come from last to win the $214,300 Malibu Stakes as Santa Anita began its 60th season before 30,827 fans.

Long, a former strong safety who failed in two NFL tryouts, and Sabatino, now in advertising, are part of a six-person ownership team that turned King of the Heap over to trainer Wallace Dollase earlier this year after employing Blake Heap.

``We used to work around the track when we were in college,'' said Sabatino, a Kentucky teammate of Long's in the early 1980s. ``This is a great thrill. This is what it must have been like for my mom to watch me play football.''

King of the Heap was off from April until November, when he finished second at Golden Gate in his first race for Dollase. He went on to win a 7-furlong allowance race at Hollywood Park with a come-from-behind effort under jockey Kent Desormeaux.

Desormeaux used similar tactics in the 7-furlong Malibu, letting the front-runners tire after fractions of :22, :44 and 1:08 4/5. Flying on the outside of horses, King of the Heap outfinished second-place Hesabull by one-half length in 1:21 4/5.

``The ride made the difference,'' said Dollase. ``The horse was ready, but Kent rode him perfectly and said he didn't have any trouble with him. This is a smart horse. He was looking around in the winner's circle and enjoying it.''

Said Desormeaux, who had two winners on the day: ``On the backside, I'm hoping that they're (the front-runners) creating some honest fractions because I'm getting a little far back. You just have to be lucky that that's exactly what happened. You have to have a horse capable of throwing it into another gear.''

Victory Speech, the 6-5 favorite trained by D. Wayne Lukas, was one of those who dropped back, finishing sixth.

``(The fractions) had to set it up for a closer and that's what happened,'' said Lukas.

The Malibu is the first leg of Santa Anita's Strub Series, with the next one being the 1 -1/8-mile San Fernando Stakes on Jan. 11. Dollase says he'll try King of the Heap at that distance.

Including satellites, the total opening-day attendance was 50,696, with a total handle of more than $13 million. The fans were faced with some new wrinkles in the wagering format $1 pick threes at all windows and no more $1 exactas at the self-service machines. The $1 pick threes had been available only at self-service machines, with $3 the minimum pick-three bet at the regular betting windows. The minimum bet on exactas is now $2 at all windows.

No deal yet: The Santa Anita meeting began with no resolution of the dispute that has left Nevada sports books without simulcasts and commingled betting of Southern California racing.

However, Mark Stephens, Santa Anita's director of marketing and customer relations, said Thursday he believes a deal is closer and that the issue could be resolved within the next week or so.