TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

REMARKS: When Alysheba arrives at Belmont Park by van from Baltimore today, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner will be sent to barn 33 instead of the stakes barn, which is usually reserved for out-of-town horses running in the Belmont Stakes.

Alysheba, trying to become the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown and the first since Affirmed in 1978, has been staying away from the 3-year-olds he has been beating all spring. At Churchill Downs before the Derby, trainer Jack Van Berg bedded him down in a barn close to the backstretch of the track, where he could hear the crowds in the afternoon and watch other horses work out in the morning.

At Pimlico the week of the Preakness, Van Berg turned down the stall where the Derby winner usually resides and quartered Alysheba in an end stall in the same barn. It was the same location where Gate Dancer stayed before winning the 1984 Preakness for Van Berg.

Instead of admitting to another of his many superstitions, Van Berg has told Belmont officials that he prefers to be away from the stakes barn because it is quieter. It’s hard to imagine Alysheba finding isolation anywhere before the Belmont on June 6, since he will win a $5-million guarantee if he sweeps the Triple Crown.

Van Berg plans three workouts for Alysheba before the Belmont. “I’ll handle two and let the press take care of the other one,” the trainer said, referring to the media doubters who surfaced after Alysheba’s slow work two days before the Preakness.

Besides Bet Twice and Cryptoclearance, who couldn’t beat Alysheba in the Derby and Preakness, the Belmont field is likely to include Gone West, Conquistarose, K.C.’s Best Turn, Templar Hill, Leo Castelli, Goa and either Fast Forward or On the Line from trainer Wayne Lukas’ barn.

Gone West, rather than Conquistarose, is the leading hope for trainer Woody Stephens in his bid for a sixth straight Belmont win.

Gone West was second to Gulch, beaten by a head, in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 18. Stephens then wanted to run Gone West in the Derby, but was overruled by the colt’s owner, James P. Mills, who was not healthy enough to travel to Louisville.

Stephens will use Sunday’s Peter Pan at Belmont as Gone West’s Belmont Stakes tuneup.

Jimmy Croll, who handles Bet Twice, is just one trainer who questions Gone West’s ability to run 1 1/2 miles in the Belmont. The son of Mr. Prospector out of the Secretariat mare, Secrettame, Gone West won the mile Gotham, then was caught from behind in the Wood by Gulch.

Stephens didn’t like Robbie Davis’ ride in the Wood and has named Eddie Maple to ride Gone West in the Belmont. Maple, who rides regularly for Stephens, won the 1985 Belmont for the trainer with Creme Fraiche and he also won the race in 1980 with Temperence Hill.

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.

Career Horse S 1 2 3 Earnings 1. Alysheba 12 3 5 2 $1,585,226 2. Bet Twice 12 6 3 1 984,047 3. Cryptoclearance 12 5 2 2 580,750 4. Demons Begone 10 6 2 0 573,394 5. Gone West 11 5 3 2 478,169 6. Gulch 13 7 1 1 974,550 7. Avies Copy 12 2 2 1 104,200 8. Temperate Sil 8 4 0 1 853,625 9. Masterful Advocate 10 5 2 1 536,425 10. Java Gold 9 5 1 1 336,552