MAKING OWN CLAIM TO FAME HORSE NAMED AFTER LINEBACKER IN BREEDERS' CUP TURF MILE.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

The last time there was such a public relationship between a horse and a football player, it didn't work out too well - at least not for the horse. That's when former NFL tough guy Alex Karras cold-cocked a steed in ``Blazing Saddles.''

Gridiron-equine relations could take a turn for the better Saturday when Singletary - named for former Chicago Bear and Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary - goes to the post in the $1.5 million Breeders' Cup Turf Mile at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Tex.

This time, there shouldn't be any punches thrown, unless it's jockey David Flores thrusting his fist in the air at the wire.

Singletary isn't just a horse in which football fans might develop an interest, it's one that's developed a small following around Southern California tracks thanks to its pedestrian roots, proletariat trainer and a posse/ownership syndicate that's more interested in a party than a pay day.

Or, true to the man it's named after, it's a horse that's more blue collar than blue blood.

Singletary, large and lazy as a 2-year-old, an also-ran on dirt and plucked by a group of mainly nickel-and-dime investors for a bargain-basement price, has crashed the Super Bowl of horse racing.

``This is another Seabiscuit,'' said Bruce Corwin, chairman of the Metropolitan Theatres Corporation and one of nearly a dozen stakeholders. ``We're living that story.''

Singletary came by its name because of the Chicago roots of syndicate head Billy Koch, who attended Northwestern in the late 1980s, and trainer Don Chatlos, whose South Side roots are betrayed by the d'ems and d'ose that pepper his speech.

Chatlos and Koch, both barn rats in their early 30s, often spent time talking about handicapping and their ambitions of one day winning the Kentucky Derby while Chatlos apprenticed under trainers John Sadler and Ron Ellis.

Koch has been hooked on the sport since he handed out lollipops as a 5-year-old at the track when Telly's Pop - the horse named after the late actor Telly Savalas and owned by his grandfather, the late movie producer Howard Koch - dominated the local scene in 1975.

When Koch launched Little Red Feather Racing less than three years ago, he convinced Chatlos - then just starting out on his own - to work with him.

One of the first horses Koch bought would have to be tied to Chicago. Their sports background - Koch played baseball at Northwestern, where he was a teammate of San Diego Padres second baseman Mark Loretta, and Chatlos was a die-hard Bears fan - pointed them in an obvious direction.

``Billy said, 'What about Singletary?' '' said Chatlos, whose jockeys' silks are blue and orange with the ``C'' on the Bears' helmet. ``And I said, 'That's it. That's just the name I was thinking.' ''

Out of courtesy, they called Singletary for his blessing. After exchanging e-mails and calls with Singletary's wife, they finally reached Singletary, now an assistant coach with the Baltimore Ravens.

``He said, 'Fine,' but I don't think he had any idea,'' said Koch. ``When he won, I thought we better fill this guy in.''

Singletary receives regular e-mails on the horse's progress and hopes to find a television Saturday to watch the race while he travels with the Ravens by train to Philadelphia for their game Sunday.

``I don't mind a bit having the name used,'' Singletary, who did not return a phone message, told USA Today. ``I've never particularly followed horse racing or ever gone to a race, but obviously I'm interested in how this horse does.''

That makes him no different than many of the owners. Koch pulled in two of his Beverly Hills' childhood friends, Joseph Rosen and Corwin's son, David. Bruce Corwin pulled in two of his friends, Rich Lichtenstein and Janine Holloway - both of whom, until recently, might have named Peyton Manning as their favorite colt. And they told two friends, and ...

The group, chipping in $2,500 here, $5,000 there, gave Koch enough backing to buy three horses for $140,000 in the spring of 2001.

``We're not princes, sheiks, billionaire oil people,'' Koch said. ``It's a group of eclectic, yet simple people who are realizing a dream.''

While others at a Florida auction saw an out-of-shape, obstinate horse that had to be dragged onto the course for a workout - Butkus or Ditka might have been a more fitting name - Chatlos saw possibilities. He noticed a horse who, nevertheless, galloped right with the more fit horses, who were fetching higher prices.

``The guy I went back there with tried to talk me out of Singletary,'' Chatlow said.

Still, when Singletary went off, in his first race Oct. 20 at Santa Anita, it was at 30-1 odds. Singletary won.

Even then Chatlos had a plan, setting his sights on this year's Breeders' Cup. He's resisted running for six-figure paydays this summer to keep his horse fresh, running only once since May - a third-place finish Oct. 9 in the Oak Tree Mile at Santa Anita, when he came in a head behind winner Musical Chimes despite staying well wide the entire race.

Chatlos appreciates the freedom Koch and Co. have given him, noting that many big-name trainers squeeze as much as they can out of a horse, then put it out to stud or pasture.

``There's two ways to make money,'' Chatlos said. ``You can be like (trainers Bob) Baffert and (D. Wayne) Lukas and squeeze every nickel out of a horse, or you can treat 'em well, love 'em and run 'em as well as you can. When a horse is done, it's done, but not because you ran him into the ground.''

The syndicate, likewise, has resisted the temptation to cash in on a horse that has earned $566,132. They've turned away offers of as much as $750,000.

``I don't want a return,'' said Lichtenstein, a political consultant who regularly brings his 11-year-old son to watch Singletary. ``I'm having too much fun.''

Rosen, who is in commercial real estate, says he can't put a price on pulling up to the track and flashing his owner's badge at the gate. Holloway, a self-described animal lover, cherishes being able to stroll through the barn talking to the horses in which she has a stake.

Bruce Corwin, who had the means to buy Singletary on his own, said it wouldn't be the same if he did. He knows the feeling shared two years ago by upstate New York high school pals who went along on Funny Cide's Derby- and Preakness-winning ride.

``To look at Richie and his son high-fiving and see Janine crying,'' Corwin said. ``That's what this is about.''

It's why when Singletary won the Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita last spring, there were more than 30 people in the winner's circle.

It's why a half-dozen members of the syndicate were at Hollywood Park at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning, watching Singletary go through his final workout before he was shipped to Dallas on Monday. It's why they all plan to be there Saturday.

``I have nothing to do with that horse,'' Rosen said. ``Except living and dying for 2 minutes.''

Billy Witz, [phone]

billy.witz(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) David Meah guides Singletary, named after Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary, in a workout at Hollywood Park.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News

Box:

21ST BREEDERS' CUP