FINAL TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

REMARKS: Ronnie Lamarque will never have another weekend like it.

On Friday, Lamarque and his wife, Carmella, celebrated their 16th wedding anniversary. On Saturday, Risen Star, whom Lamarque owns in partnership with trainer Louie Roussel, won the Belmont Stakes by 14 3/4 lengths, collecting a $1-million Triple Crown bonus in addition to the race purse of $303,720. Risen Star was third after an awful trip in the Kentucky Derby and won the Preakness.

Just as he did after the Preakness, Lamarque was allowed to sing a song dedicated to Risen Star on national television after the Belmont. A 49% owner of Risen Star, Lamarque’s share of the Belmont purse was $148,822, before taxes. He reportedly did better than that at the windows, betting $50,000 on Risen Star’s nose and collecting $155,000.

Lamarque, a New Orleans automobile dealer who was a horseplayer long before he bought his first horse three years ago, has the feeling that although the people of that Louisiana city--including the Little Sisters of the Poor, Roussel’s favorite charity--celebrated Risen Star’s victory, the town’s bookmakers may have been hurt badly.

“I think the New Orleans bookmakers got buried,” Lamarque said. “Unless they were able to lay off the money in New York that was bet on the horse down there.”

A slight favorite over Brian’s Time in the Belmont, Risen Star paid $6.20 at the track, because New York’s horseplayers were leery that he might not have been sound and might have worked too fast in a blistering 3 furlongs the morning before the race.

Back home, Risen Star’s supporters weren’t as fortunate. At Louisiana Downs, where fans bet almost $900,000 on the Belmont, Risen Star produced an even-money, $4 mutuel.

The Times’ Triple Crown panel was not sold on Risen Star throughout the series. Here’s the way the three experts fared:

KENTUCKY DERBY--In a split vote, they had Private Terms on top, with Winning Colors second, Forty Niner third and Risen Star sixth. Private Terms finished ninth, Winning Colors and Forty Niner ran 1-2 and Risen Star was third.

PREAKNESS--In another close vote, the panel leaned toward Winning Colors, with Risen Star being moved up to fourth, behind Forty Niner and Private Terms. Winning Colors ran third, 2 1/2 lengths behind Risen Star, with Private Terms fourth after bleeding from the lungs, and Forty Niner seventh.

BELMONT--The panel was still skeptical about Risen Star, perhaps because Roussel, with his first important horse, was trying to bring a colt through the Triple Crown rigors for the first time. Winning Colors and Risen Star were ranked 1-2, and the filly faded to last in the six-horse field. She finished 41 3/4 lengths behind Risen Star in becoming the worst Belmont trailer since Minstrel Star ran almost 55 lengths behind Swale in a nine-horse race in 1984.

There is validity to the premise that Risen Star, with some racing luck at Churchill Downs, could have won the Triple Crown. His record in the three races is not unlike those of Little Current and Native Dancer, who also failed in the Derby and then won the Preakness and the Belmont.

In 1974, Little Current was stopped at least three times before finishing fifth in the Derby, a 23-horse free-for-all that prompted Churchill Downs to install a money rule restricting the number of starters.

In 1953, Native Dancer, who never lost another race, was taken out by Money Broker on the first turn, raced wide until the stretch and then missed by a head against Dark Star.

Although Risen Star, with his Secretariat bloodlines and tour de force in the Belmont, has become a charismatic colt, the prospects for 3-year-old racing the rest of the year are not stirring. With Risen Star probably on the shelf until the fall, the excitement level figures to drop appreciably. Frequently the Belmont brings out some fresh horses, but this time the faces were familiar and faded.

Without Risen Star, the Travers at Saratoga can be renamed the Also-ran Derby.

FINAL TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

Career Horse S 1 2 3 Earnings 1.Risen Star 11 8 2 1 $2,029,845 2.Winning Colors 9 6 1 1 $1,116,350 3.Brian’s Time 11 3 2 2 522,363 4.Forty Niner 13 7 4 0 1,021,880 5.Private Terms 9 7 0 0 759,828 6.Proper Reality 8 6 0 0 750,820 7.Kingpost 16 3 5 4 577,462 8.Seeking the Gold 8 5 2 0 401,310 9.Dynaformer 11 4 3 1 499,430 10.Cefis 19 3 4 2 311,849

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.