TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

Chain reactions are not unusual in racing, but an unusual number of linked events will result in Alydeed’s running in the 117th Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico. Here’s the chronological list:

1--Late last week, it appeared that Alydeed would not have enough purse money to run in the Preakness. When more than 14 horses are considered, career earnings determine the field, and Alydeed was 16th on the list.

2--With the Preakness iffy, trainer Roger Attfield planned to run Alydeed in the $500,000 Illinois Derby at Sportsman’s Park last Saturday.

3--Craig Perret, who has been riding Alydeed, told Attfield he would ride for him in the Illinios Derby. Perret then told Nick Zito, the trainer of Strike The Gold, that he would be unable to ride his horse in the $700,000 Pimlico Special the same day.

4--Attfield was told by Sportsman’s Park officials that he might not be able to run in the Illinois Derby, because Alydeed had suffered pulmonary bleeding twice in a 30-day period.

5--With Alydeed not running in the Illinois Derby, Perret went back to Zito and wound up with a $42,000 payday, riding Strike The Gold to an upset victory at Pimlico.

6--Rusty Arnold, who trains Dignitas, had said that he wouldn’t run the colt in the Illinois Derby if Alydeed ran. Dignitas was beaten by eight lengths on April 25 when Alydeed romped to victory in the Kentucky Derby Trial at Churchill Downs.

7--With Alydeed out, Arnold ran his colt and Dignitas won the Illinois Derby.

8--Attfield, still concerned about Alydeed having enough money to qualify for the Preakness, entered his horse in the $100,000 Queenston Stakes at Woodbine on Sunday.

9--The morning of the Queenston, Attfield learned that D.J. Cat and Pistols And Roses, who were ahead of Alydeed on the Preakness money list, wouldn’t be running at Pimlico. Pistols And Roses had suffered a sprained left foreleg.

10--With Alydeed assured of starting in the Preakness, Attfield scratched him from the Woodbine race and hired a van to ship him the 500 miles from Toronto to Baltimore. Perret will ride Alydeed in the Preakness.

The only time Alydeed ran last year, he won a stake at Woodbine. A chipped ankle ended his 2-year-old campaign. Returning to action in March at Gulfstsream Park, Alydeed won in allowance company by 9 1/2 lengths. Perret, riding him for the first time, dismounted and said: “He’s a monster.”

Since then, Alydeed has run third--while bleeding for the first time--in a 1 1/16-mile stake at Calder and won the one-mile Derby Trial. The second bleeding incident occurred during a workout at Woodbine on May 4.

Alydeed, a grandson of Alydar, was a $100,000 Canadian-bred yearling who races for Kinghaven Farms. Northern Dancer, a Canadian-bred, won the Derby and the Preakness in 1964.

Alydeed will be able to run with Lasix--a diuretic that curbs bleeding--in the Preakness, and Attfield is upbeat.

“He’s a fresh horse, and the rest of them are somewhat bruised and battered,” the trainer said. “My horse gets better every time he runs.”

Alydeed is a probable pace setter for the Preakness, a 1 3/16-mile race that frequently is won by horses that run close to the lead. With 13 horses expected to run--the largest field since 1981--speed horses should have another advantage Saturday, because theoretically they should be able to avoid traffic problems.

Besides Lil E. Tee, the Derby winner, and Alydeed, the other Preakness probables are Casual Lies, Dance Floor, Conte Di Savoya, Pine Bluff, My Luck Runs North, Technology, Big Sur, Careful Gesture, Speakerphone, Agincourt and Dash For Dotty.

A.P. Indy, scratched the morning of the Derby because of a bruised foot, was removed from Preakness consideration by trainer Neil Drysdale Monday. At Churchill Downs, Drysdale canceled a planned six-furlong workout.

“There’s still some heat in the foot and it is pulsating,” Drysdale said. “We’re going to continue working on the foot and see how he progresses before we decide what to do next.”

Drysdale said that A.P. Indy, who won the Santa Anita Derby, is still a possibility for the last Triple Crown race, the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 6.

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

TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

Horse S 1 2 3 Earnings 1. Lil E. Tee 9 5 3 1 $1,177,106 2. Casual Lies 10 5 1 2 590,628 3. A.P. Indy 6 5 0 0 722,555 4. Dance Floor 12 4 4 1 713,859 5. Pine Bluff 11 5 1 2 679,988 6. Arazi 10 8 1 0 1,117,608 7. Conte Di Savoya 11 1 3 1 164,368 8. Technology 7 4 1 1 464,963 9. Devil His Due 7 4 1 0 432,725 10. Alydeed 4 3 0 1 120,252