SARATOGA SPRINGS – Trainer Gary Gullo was fined a hefty $1,000 yesterday by the stewards for “failure to tend to business in a proper manner in the 10th race on Aug. 2.”

That race was won by Gullo’s Doubleyourpleasure, who paid $11.20. Doubleyourpleasure last raced June 15 and had no published workouts since in either the track program or Racing Form.

State rules dictate a horse is ineligible to start if it doesn’t show a race or workout within 30 days. It is the trainer’s responsibility to make sure the rule is followed.

“I’m the fall guy,” said Gullo, who claims Doubleyourpleasure, a winner last year at the Spa, did have a half-mile workout July 14 at Belmont Park but the clockers didn’t catch it.

“After the break, a flood of horses went on the track,” he said. “I think 115 horses worked that day, and there are only a few clockers. It’s a misfortunate thing, but I don’t think the horse would have been bet any differently if the workout was published.”

Gullo, who said he doesn’t check his own horses’ works in the Form and so overlooked it was missing, won’t appeal the fine, saying “I just want to put it behind me.”

State steward Carmine Donofrio said the fine was heavy because “we try to take each case individually and felt it was serious.”

Usually several people in the racing and stewards offices check the past-performance proofs to verify the 30-day rule, but this time it slipped through the cracks. The missing work was noticed by a public handicapper two days after the race, who told a reporter, who notified the stewards of the mistake.