By ED GOLDEN

This was no time for posturing.

With the horse racing business regarded in some quarters as hell-bent on joining the dodo, it could afford a strike by the jockeys about as much as Latrell Sprewell could afford another choke hold.

And so it came to pass, after much fretting by Jockeys’ Guild president Gary Stevens, that the riders and track members of the Thoroughbred Racing Association agreed last Thursday to a new contract beginning Jan. 1, 1998. Unlike the previous three-year deal, this pact is only for two years.

"It’s great news," said Stevens, who two short weeks ago was seriously concerned that the riders were facing a grim circumstance similar to 1994, when they threatened to walk unless the tracks agreed to their contract needs, which centered around media rights and insurance and health coverage.

The turning point last week was good old common sense.

"The TRA, as did we, realized that now is not the time for any big showdown," said Stevens. "Horse racing is in a fairly good status right now, I think, with what the NTRA (National Thoroughbred Racing Association) is doing. Racing could really take some major steps forward over the next couple of years."

The NTRA is racing’s latest messiah. It is an organization supported in principle and in dollars by most tracks in the United States. Its goal: as racing’s singular nerve center, unify and rebuild the game. Put it back on the sports and media map.

"The NTRA has asked the Jockeys’ Guild to step on board with them," Stevens said. "We fully support the NTRA and we’re going to do whatever we can to help market it. We’ll basically be the tools they use to market the sport."

Stevens said he wasn’t sure who the Guild would be dealing with after this two-year contract expires, but indicated it may not be the TRA. "The two-year deal works for us," Stevens added. "That’s what we were looking for."

On the controversial issue of jockeys endorsing products on their riding gear, Stevens had this to say: "The owners obviously should have the power to advertise on their own silks if they choose, as they do in Europe. (But) if I’m fortunate enough to have an endorsement, then why can’t I be allowed to have something on the article of clothing that I own? And if that is the case, and I’m riding for an owner who owns the silks and the horse I’m riding, what’s his cut from what I get? It gets very confusing, because obviously the owners have a right to get some of what Gary Stevens has."

Thus, there could be conflicts. Suppose Stevens is endorsed by Coors, and he’s riding a horse for Bob and Beverly Lewis, (owners of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Silver Charm), who own an Anheuser-Busch distributorship. "Or," said Stevens, "suppose I’m sponsored by Toyota and I ride a horse for Ed Symes, who has a Cadillac dealership. That’s a conflict. But these are easy to resolve. If I were riding for such an owner, I just wouldn’t be permitted to represent the product of an adversary."

Stevens said the NTRA has contacted the NBA, NFL and Major League baseball, seeking guidelines on their sponsorships, "who gets what and when and where. Obviously, we have to have some guidelines," Stevens said. "I think we’re all responsible for pumping something back into the NTRA.

"If I’m fortunate enough to have a $1 million endorsement with someone, or a $10 million one with somebody else, I’m going to be willing to put something back. But I have no idea what the numbers are, what the percentages are. We’re working on that right now."

Stevens said that although negotiations between the Guild and the TRA "were a little later coming than we expected, they were very good and moved along very, very quickly the last week. It seems all the tracks around the country, with the exception of maybe one, are in support of the NTRA. We’ve got the right people on board and there’s a great atmosphere present. I’m real excited about it."

THE HOMESTRETCH: It’s not official yet, but it’s a safe bet Laffit Pincay Jr. will leave Southern California to ride regularly in the Bay Area early next year in pursuit of Bill Shoemaker’s record 8,833 victories. Pincay is about 260 shy. "I don’t see any changes, so far," the Hall of Fame rider said of his shortage of mounts on the Southern California circuit. "It doesn’t look good. I think I’m going to have to move. I’ll wait till the first of the year before deciding, though." Pincay, who will be 51 on Dec. 29, was just back from Peru where he failed to win in an invitational riding competition. He had three rides drawn at random. "I finished fifth twice and pretty far back on the other mount," said Pincay of his journey to Monterico race track in Lima. "But it was a lot of fun. I met a lot of nice people, other jockeys from South America, and visited the city and its museums." Trainer Bill Spawr, Pincay’s primary provider of mounts in recent years, is somewhat puzzled as to why other horsemen are reluctant to put Pincay on their horses. "I’m loyal," Spawr explained, "but I like to win and he likes to win. Everybody else thinks he’s too old, but I don’t see that. I think he’s riding as well as ever. I’ve been winning with him. I ride other top riders and don’t win. I ride him and I win. A lot of other trainers aren’t riding Laffit because of their owners. I have a few who say they don’t want to ride him because they think he’s too old. I don’t see it in the afternoons. Maybe the owners feel older because of Laffit." Pincay rode with the vigor of a 21-year-old when he won Friday’s fifth race by a nose on the Spawr-trained 9-1 shot Cut and Paste . . . An unsubstantiated report has suspended jockey Patrick Valenzuela exercising horses at the San Luis Rey Downs training center, a no-no under terms of the indefinite ban handed out by the stewards for failure to fulfill his riding commitments. The stewards have alerted security at San Luis Rey and advised them that Valenzuela is suspended, and thus denied access to the facility. The oft-troubled rider, whose career has been plagued with substance abuse and suspensions, is permitted to work horses at private ranches, however . . . Richard Mandella will take an additional month before bringing back Horse of the Year candidate Gentlemen. Originally, Gentlemen was pointing to the Jan.10 San Pasqual Handicap as a prep for the $1-million Santa Anita Handicap on March 7. "We’ll probably go in the San Antonio on Feb. 7 instead," Mandella said. "He’s galloping and doing fine." . . . Walter Greenman hopes to have Pacificbounty ready for the $300,000 San Fernando Stakes on Jan. 17. The 3-year-old is recently back from San Luis Rey Downs after a lengthy recovery from ailments that forced him to miss the Triple Crown . . . Stevens said a representative from ABC-TV gave riders a symposium on speaking in front of cameras at the annual Guild meeting. "Hopefully," said Stevens, "there will be a lot more racing on TV in the future. We need to educate our riders, market our sport and catch up with everybody else."