TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

When three horses win Triple Crown races, racing fans look to the Travers, run at Saratoga in August, as sort of a divisional tiebreaker.

This year, the Triple Crown was split three ways--Lil E. Tee won the Kentucky Derby, then ran fifth in the Preakness and skipped the Belmont Stakes; Pine Bluff, fifth in the Derby, won the Preakness before finishing third in the Belmont; and A.P. Indy, after skipping the Derby and the Preakness because of a small crack in his left front hoof, won Saturday’s Belmont.

The Travers, which at 1 1/4 miles is the same distance as the Derby, is a $1-million race on Aug. 22 that would be a perfect showcase for those three horses.

But only Pine Bluff is expected to run in it.

Lil E. Tee, who suffered significant pulmonary bleeding while running in the Preakness, also developed a lung infection after the race. Even without the infection, he probably would not have run in the Belmont, simply because of the bleeding condition. New York racing authorities don’t allow horses to run after being treated with Lasix, the diuretic usually given to bleeders.

After his victory in the Belmont, A.P. Indy has been sent back to trainer Neil Drysdale’s barn at Santa Anita, and Drysdale has ruled out the Travers.

“We ran the horse with that (hoof) patch in the Belmont,” Drysdale said. “Now he needs time for the foot to grow out. It should take a couple of months. He’ll remain in light training, but by the time he’s ready to run again, there will not be enough time for the Travers.”

A probable schedule for A.P. Indy is two or three prep races in the fall before the $3-million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Florida’s Gulfstream Park on Oct. 31.

Alydeed, runner-up in the Preakness, also has a bleeding problem and isn’t expected to run in the Travers. An easy winner of the Marine Stakes on Sunday at Woodbine, Alydeed will continue running in jurisdictions that allow Lasix. Trainer Roger Attfield is considering either the Ohio Derby at Thistledown or the Queen’s Plate Trial before Alydeed tackles the Canadian Triple Crown, which begins with the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine on July 5.

The career of Casual Lies is on hold. The $7,500 yearling was second in the Derby, third in the Preakness and fifth in the Belmont, but on Saturday he tore out the back section of his left front hoof while trying to beat A.P. Indy.

“We had a filly with this same problem, and her hoof grew out totally normal,” said owner-trainer Shelley Riley. “The good thing is that the injury doesn’t extend into the hairline, so there won’t be any scarring. He’ll come back to race again.”

Casual Lies battled with Agincourt for the lead in the Belmont, then dropped back in the final quarter-mile.

Drysdale’s work with A.P. Indy was one of his best training jobs.

“When things work out, it’s easy to say what a great job has been done, isn’t it?” Drysdale said. “Over the years, though, you have a tendency to forget these things after the work has been done. It’s difficult to compare one training job with another. With your good horses, it always seems like things are happening, because there’s more impact with the good ones. You might also do a good job with lesser horses, but they’re not in the limelight, and there’s seldom much conversation about it.”

Drysdale had some second thoughts about the Belmont after he watched a videotape of the race. Regarding A.P. Indy’s three-quarter-length winning margin, Drysdale said: “Eddie (Delahoussaye, A.P. Indy’s jockey) had Pine Bluff measured in the stretch. Eddie has a tendency to protect a horse (by avoiding the whip) when he knows he’s going to get there (win), which I am very much in favor of. Looking at the race again, I’d say that we almost won it going away.”

Craig Perret, who rides Alydeed, has no doubt who the divisional kingpin is.

“Right now, you’ve got to give A.P. Indy all the credit,” Perret said. “I think my horse might have won the Preakness if he had been able to get one more prep race. But A.P. Indy is the best 3-year-old so far. He’s crossed all the bridges.”

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.

Horse S 1 2 3 Earnings 1.A.P. Indy 8 7 0 0 $1,287,815 2.Pine Bluff 13 6 1 3 2,255,884 3.Lil E. Tee 10 5 3 1 1,177,106 4.Alydeed 6 4 1 1 317,632 5.Casual Lies 12 5 1 3 665,108 6.Arazi 10 8 1 0 1,117,608 7.My Memoirs 7 1 2 1 229,914 8.Dance Floor 14 4 4 1 751,099 9.Technology 8 4 1 1 464,963 10.Pistols And Roses 11 6 2 2 821,046