TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

REMARKS: Trainer Woody Stephens thought he had Saturday’s Gotham Stakes all figured out. One of his starters in the one-mile Aqueduct race, Gone West, would sprint to an early lead, soften up any horses that tried to run with him, and then Stephens’ other entry, Conquilot, would overtake everyone in the battle to the wire.

The trouble with the strategy was that Gone West ran so fast--a :44 2/5 half-mile and a 1:08 1/5 three-quarters--that no one was capable of catching him. Capote, the champion 2-year-old colt from 1986 who was making his first start in five months, didn’t have the conditioning to keep up early and staggered home fourth.

Conquilot, the son of Conquistador Cielo, who in 1982 started Stephens’ five-year winning streak in the Belmont Stakes, wound up sixth. He was another unfortunate choice for jockey Eddie Maple, who had ridden Gone West in all but two of his previous eight races. Somehow, Maple manages to pick the horses that don’t win the big races for Stephens. The trainer has won five Belmont Stakes and one Kentucky Derby in the last six years, and Maple has ridden only one of the horses.

Kentucky Derby observers have no more of a handle on the race’s 113th running May 2 than Stephens had on the Gotham. Demons Begone has gone to the top of the ratings, solely because the four horses ahead of him last week--Masterful Advocate, Capote, Bet Twice and Talinum--all lost. Masterful Advocate was a distant second to Temperate Sil in the Santa Anita Derby, and Bet Twice ran fifth and Talinum was third in the Florida Derby, which was won by Cryptoclearance.

Although Demons Begone has won two races at Oaklawn Park by 12 lengths this year, running both in exceptional times, he was unable to beat New York’s best late last year and he finished sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

“He may not have beaten anything in Arkansas, but he’s done a pretty good job of beating the clock,” Santa Anita’s Frank (Jimmy) Kilroe said.

At Oaklawn, however, the clock is suspect. When Eddie Delahoussaye rode Sonny’s Halo to two Oaklawn wins just prior to their winning the Kentucky Derby in 1983, he was never convinced that his colt was running as fast as the timer said he was. And the mile record for Oaklawn--1:34 2/5 by Whitebrush in 1984--has been questioned by track officials themselves.

Pejoratives about Demons Begone aside, not many trainers will want to race him when he runs in Oaklawn’s Arkansas Derby April 18.

Fast Forward, second to Demons Begone by four lengths in their last race, will be in Birmingham this Saturday, to run in the inaugural Alabama Derby. Phantom Jet is the favorite.

J.T.’s Pet, winner of the Louisiana Derby and Jim Beam Stakes, had been considered for the Arkansas Derby, but now will run this Saturday in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.

“I’d have to give Demons Begone three pounds if we ran in Arkansas,” said Lynn Whiting, who trains J.T.’s Pet.

Another consideration for Whiting regarding the Arkansas Derby is that Pat Day, who has been riding J.T.’s Pet, is committed to Demons Begone.

Whiting was shopping for a California jockey late Monday, with the possibility that Gary Stevens might get the ride in the Lexington Stakes.

Bet Twice’s handlers, meanwhile, are debating whether to run in the Kentucky Derby, since their colt did so poorly in the Florida Derby. Bet Twice’s jockey, Craig Perret, had to alter his course and move to the rail when he was blocked in the stretch. There was plenty of running room on the fence, but Bet Twice didn’t fire once he got there.

As a result, Bet Twice may miss the Kentucky Derby and be pointed for the Preakness, which is the second leg of the Triple Crown.

TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

Career Horse S 1 2 3 Earnings 1.Demons Begone 8 5 2 0 $273,394 2.Temperate Sil 8 4 0 1 853,625 3.Cryptoclearance 10 5 1 1 520,750 4.Capote 5 3 0 0 664,700 5.Masterful Advocate 9 5 2 1 536,425 6.Talinum 9 3 1 2 415,116 7.Bet Twice 11 6 0 1 814,047 8.J.T.’s Pet 5 5 0 0 392,460 9.Gone West 9 4 2 2 265,639 10.Alysheba 9 1 5 1 400,236

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