TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

REMARKS: If a horse that works well also runs well in the Kentucky Derby, Best Pal has as good a chance as any to be covered with the blanket of roses late Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs.

Best Pal has had three serious trips to the track since arriving in Kentucky, and all of them have been sizzlers. In his latest workout, Monday morning on a track listed as sloppy because of overnight rain, the 3-year-old gelding went three furlongs in a brilliant :34 3/5.

Felipe Guerrera was in command--Gary Stevens will ride Best Pal in the Derby--and went on with Best Pal. The rest of the workout was just as impressive--a half-mile in :46 3/5, five-eighths in :59 2/5 and the horse was pulled up after three-quarters in 1:12 1/5.

Best Pal was carrying about 130 pounds, which is four pounds more than he will carry in the 117th Derby. Best Pal’s trainer, Ian Jory, is confident, but not as cocksure as he was before the Santa Anita Derby, when he all but guaranteed victory. Best Pal was beaten by half a length by Dinard, who is out of the Derby with a torn knee ligament.

“There are five or six horses in the race who are as good as one another, and we’re one of them,” Jory said. “I know this horse is feeling good. The track will change between now and Saturday. It will get harder and shallower, and there might only be an inch of cushion by race day. This makes it easier for a horse to run a mile and a quarter (the Derby distance) than it would be on a deeper track. But a mile and a quarter is still a tough race for horses, with all the weight they’ll be carrying.”

With Big Al’s Express having left Churchill Downs on a van for Stockton, Calif., after the first-time starter’s ill-advised appearance in last Saturday’s Derby Trial (in which he finished last), the Derby field is settling in at 15 to 18 horses. Here they are, in alphabetical order:

Alydavid--The Derby Trial winner is likely to run back in the Derby, which will be only his fifth start. Trainer Phil Hauswald would like to keep Pat Day on Alydavid, but that will only happen if Corporate Report skips the Derby.

Another Review--Since his seventh-place finish in the Wood Memorial on April 20, this colt has changed trainers, from Andrew Elder to Johnny Campo, who won the 1981 Derby with Pleasant Colony.

Best Pal--Mike Battaglia, the Churchill Downs handicapper, says that despite the horse’s solid workouts, he’ll be the fourth choice in the morning line. “Generally speaking, California horses don’t get much play in the Derby,” Battaglia said. “And although his races have been good, he still hasn’t won one this year.”

Corporate Report--Winner of two races at Santa Anita, then second twice at Oaklawn Park, he bruised his left front foot during a 1:14 4/5 six-furlong workout Sunday. Corporate Report’s foot was better Monday and trainer Wayne Lukas will decide today about running.

Fly So Free--Battaglia says this colt will be his 2-1 Derby favorite, not because he ran second to Strike The Gold in the Blue Grass, but because of consistency--five victories in his past six starts.

Forty Something--A son of Air Forbes Won with two victories, against maidens last year and in allowance company last week at Keeneland, in six starts.

Green Alligator--The California Derby winner convinced trainer Murray Johnson with a seven-furlong workout in 1:25 Sunday.

Hansel--Battaglia has him as the 5-2 second choice. He has beaten easier twice since not being able to out-finish Fly So Free and Strike The Gold in the Florida Derby.

Happy Jazz Band--The third-place finisher in the Wood, nine lengths behind the injured Cahill Road, he has two victories in nine starts.

Lost Mountain--He won a maiden race last October and has had six winless starts since then, although he was second in the Wood.

Mane Minister--His trainer, Paco Gonzalez, is hoping for rain Saturday, to give him the kind of track he won on at Santa Anita.

Olympio--Still more likely for the Preakness on May 18 than the Derby, with his stablemate, Sea Cadet, expected to run up front in the Derby.

Paulrus--May try to become the first Indiana-bred to win the Derby. By Golden Act, he was seventh on the grass at Keeneland a month ago. He’s a former $25,000 claimer from Ellis Park.

Quintana--The biggest pre-Derby scare is over for trainer David Cross. Big Al’s Express has left Quintana’s barn, taking his cough with him to California.

Sea Cadet--A winner at four tracks in California, the colt with the abbreviated tail arrived at Churchill Downs Monday. “I wouldn’t be on him if I didn’t think we had a chance to win,” says his jockey, Chris McCarron.

Strike The Gold--The 7-2 third choice in Battaglia’s early line, his three owners own their own planes, have big yachts and travel in long limousines. None of which will help their colt Saturday.

Subordinated Debt--This horse was last in the Jim Beam and sixth in the Arkansas Derby, after more respectable form as a 2-year-old. He’s from Halo, the same sire that sent Sunny’s Halo to the Derby winner’s circle in 1983.

Wilder Than Ever--Another recent failure, in both the Beam and the Blue Grass, this colt is at Churchill Downs because his owner wants to be. The trainer is philosophical. “You fire a shot in the air, you might hit somebody,” John Churchman said.

Advisory panel for The Times’ Triple Crown Ratings: Lenny Hale, vice president for racing at Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga; Frank (Jimmy) Kilroe, director of racing emeritus at Santa Anita; and Tommy Trotter, director of international racing at Arlington International Racecourse.

Horse Sts 1 2 3 Career Earnings 1. Fly So Free 10 6 2 1 $1,148,695 2. Best Pal 7 2 2 1 $378,810 3. Strike The Gold 10 7 1 1 $1,382,004 4. Hansel 9 5 1 2 $811,336 5. Sea Cadet 11 5 2 2 $457,050 6. Olympio 8 5 1 0 $578,675 7. Alydavid 4 3 0 1 $83,388 8. Mane Minister 8 3 0 2 $154,700 9. Quintana 7 2 1 0 $114,000 10. Green Alligator 7 2 4 0 $221,500