HORSE RACING : TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

REMARKS: Sunday Silence, seeking to become the 12th horse to sweep the Triple Crown races, arrived at Belmont Park after a four-hour van ride from Pimlico Monday. His trainer, Charlie Whittingham, was as confident as ever about winning the Belmont Stakes--the last leg of the five-week grind--scheduled for June 10.

Although 11 horses--none since Affirmed in 1978--have won the Triple Crown, 13 others have been in Sunday Silence’s position, having won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. Two skipped the Belmont and 11--Pensive, Tim Tam, Carry Back, Northern Dancer, Kauai King, Forward Pass, Majestic Prince, Canonero II, Spectacular Bid, Pleasant Colony and Alysheba--were derailed in the final race.

Burgoo King, in 1932, and Bold Venture, in 1936, won the Derby and Preakness and then didn’t run in the Belmont. The three races were not widely referred to as the Triple Crown until the late 1930s.

Tim Tam was ridden by Milo Valenzuela, whose nephew, Pat Valenzuela, rides Sunday Silence. Tim Tam went lame while finishing second to Cavan in the 1958 Belmont.

“If Sunday Silence runs back to his pedigree, the mile and a half (the Belmont distance) will be no problem,” Whittingham said. “There’s a lot of Mahmoud and Palestinian blood in this horse, and Cosmah had some Mahmoud blood in her, too.”

Cosmah is the dam of Halo, who sired Sunday Silence as well as Sunny’s Halo, winner of the Kentucky Derby in 1983. Hail to Reason, who sired Halo, also sired Hail to All, who won the Belmont in 1965.

Mahmoud, the sire of Almahmoud, the dam of Cosmah, won the English Derby in 1936 and was a brilliant stayer over a distance of ground. He was imported to the United States by C.V. (Sonny) Whitney. Palestinian is a fourth-generation sire on the side of Sunday Silence’s dam, Wishing Well.

“I like our chances to win the Belmont better than I liked them in the Derby or Preakness,” Whittingham said. “I know our horse can handle a mile and a half; I don’t know if Easy Goer can.”

Easy Goer, who has been second although the heavy favorite in both the Derby and the Preakness, will be running in the Belmont and trying to avoid the ignominious record of his sire, Alydar, who finished second to Affirmed in all three races.

Of the nine horses that ran in the Preakness, only Sunday Silence, Easy Goer and Rock Point, the third-place finisher, are definite for the Belmont. Awe Inspiring, who will be favored in the Jersey Derby next Monday at Garden State Park, is Easy Goer’s stablemate and another likely Belmont starter.

Of the other horses being considered for the Belmont, several will be running in interim races and these results will determine their status. Irish Actor, seventh in the Kentucky Derby, and Contested Colors are other probables in the Jersey Derby. Contested Colors is a son of Conquistador Cielo, who gave trainer Woody Stephens his first of five consecutive Belmont winners. Fire Maker, who came off of a six-month layoff with a cracked leg to win the one-mile Withers on May 10, is scheduled to run in the 1 1/8-mile Peter Pan at Belmont on Sunday, along with Imbibe and Triple Buck, who delayed the start of the Kentucky Derby for nine minutes with a shoe problem and then finished ninth. Imbibe was sired by Temperence Hill, who won the Belmont at 53-1 in 1980.

It is not a formidable lot. Sunday Silence may not beat Easy Goer, but he should be able to defeat the rest of the them, even on a bad day. And if Charlie Whittingham again forgets his binoculars on Belmont day, no horse has a chance. The trainer has left his glasses back at the hotel twice--when Ferdinand won the Kentucky Derby in 1986 and last Saturday at the Preakness.

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 Arlington International Racecourse and Gulfstream Park.

TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

Horse S 1 2 3 Earnings 1.Sunday Silence 8 6 2 0 $1,418,530 2.Easy Goer 11 7 4 0 1,475,730 3.Awe Inspiring 8 5 0 1 328,220 4.Rock Point 13 3 2 2 358,104 5.Dansil 15 7 3 1 507,733 6.Fire Maker 10 3 2 3 255,730 7.Open Mind 9 7 2 0 1,000,844 8.Hawkster 12 2 1 2 479,090 9.Houston 7 4 0 0 163,798 10.King Glorious 7 6 0 0 695,650