TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

Career Horse S 1 2 3 Earnings 1. Spend a Buck 13 9 2 2 $3,998,509 2. Tank’s Prospect 13 5 2 2 $1,355,645 3. Chief’s Crown 14 9 3 1 $1,349,422 4. Proud Truth 10 6 2 0 $453,927 5. Steph. Odyssey 10 4 2 1 $844,990 6. Fast Account 14 2 6 1 $169,330 7. El Bosco 15 3 3 1 $303,220 8. Smile 6 6 0 0 $434,755 9. Eternal Prince 10 4 2 1 $424,362 10. Creme Fraiche 12 4 5 0 $383,264

REMARKS: Trainers with top 3-year-olds continue to play jockey roulette.

After Spend a Buck, ridden by Laffit Pincay for the first time, earned $2.6 million for his win Monday in the Jersey Derby at Garden State Park, the winner’s trainer, Cam Gambolati, said: “Laffit rides this horse from now on. He made 10% of the purse today ($260,000), and he deserves every quarter of it.”

Angel Cordero, who rode Spend a Buck to victory in the Kentucky Derby but got off him Monday because of an obligation to ride Track Barron (to a third-place finish) in the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park, may wind up riding Chief’s Crown in the Belmont Stakes on June 8. Don MacBeth, Chief’s Crown’s jockey for all but one of his career starts, lost the horse after a second-place finish in the Preakness.

It’s undecided whether Spend a Buck will run in the Belmont, but Pincay feels the added distance isn’t a problem. “There’s no question in my mind that this horse can handle a mile and a half,” said Pincay, who should know. He has won three straight Belmonts with Conquistador Cielo, Caveat and Swale.

Pincay said that he doesn’t have the mount on Stephan’s Odyssey for the Belmont. Stephan’s Odyssey, after running second to Spend a Buck in the Kentucky Derby, was a disappointing fourth in Sunday’s Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont.

“He wasn’t at his best,” said Woody Stephens, Stephan’s Odyssey’s trainer.

“He was too close to the pace. He had an outside post and came out running, and that didn’t help. Maybe he’ll do better going around two turns (in the Belmont).”

It’s likely that Eddie Maple will regain the mount on Stephan’s Odyssey for the Belmont. Maple was replaced by Pincay when the colt’s owner, Henryk de Kwiatkowski, got upset because Maple didn’t claim foul after a third-place finish behind Chief’s Crown and Proud Truth in the Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah.

Proud Truth, coming from off the pace, won the Peter Pan by 1 lengths over Cutlass Reality. “It was a super race for him,” trainer John Veitch said. “I hope his works will be good between now and then to set him up for the Belmont.”

Fast Account, fourth in the Kentucky Derby but off the board this weekend on the grass at Hollywood Park, is still Belmont-bound. There may be eight to 12 horses running in the third Triple Crown race, including Tank’s Prospect, winner of the Preakness. Many of the undecided trainers are waiting to see what Spend a Buck does. There are hundreds of ways to lose a horse race, but running against Spend a Buck doesn’t have to be one of them.

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