THOROUGHBRED RACING : Credentials in Field Are Poor in Richest Kentucky Derby Prep

Although Saturday’s $600,000 Jim Beam Stakes at Turfway Park is the richest of the Kentucky Derby prep races, none of the 10 horses running has a brilliant resume.

Prairie Bayou, the 7-5 favorite on the morning line, has run six consecutive solid races, but his only two stakes victories occurred this winter at Aqueduct, where the colt was exiled while the better prospects in owner John Ed Anthony’s stable trained at Oaklawn Park.

Wild Gale, the second choice at 4-1, has run nine times, but has never won two in a row.Miner’s Mark has a fancy pedigree but a bland record. The Jim Beam will be his first stakes start.

In recent years, however, what horses have done after running at Turfway has given the suburban Cincinnati track its reputation.

Alysheba, making his third start, won at Turfway on Sept. 14, 1986, breaking his maiden by eight lengths. Seven consecutive losses later, Alysheba won another race--the 1987 Kentucky Derby. Alysheba was voted horse of the year in 1988 and retired with record purses of $6.6 million. Now, Turfway runs a stakes race named after Alysheba.

The last three years, the Jim Beam has been won by horses that have gone on to Triple Crown glory.

In 1990, Summer Squall won the stake, ran second to Unbridled in the Derby, then won the Preakness. The next year, Hansel had run a couple of dull races in Florida before he won the Jim Beam in a mild upset. After running 10th in the Derby, Hansel won the remaining Triple Crown races, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. Last year, Lil E. Tee had never won a stake before he won the Jim Beam as the third betting choice. After running second to Pine Bluff in the Arkansas Derby, Lil E. Tee won the Kentucky Derby, and now a Baltimore writer is doing a book on him.

Saturday’s Jim Beam field has the same nondescript look as when Lil E. Tee and Hansel won the stake. But with no clear-cut favorite established for the Kentucky Derby in five weeks, trainers are hopeful that a late bloomer will come to life, and jockeys are shopping around for that magic mount. Chris McCarron, who won his Derby with Alysheba, has taken the assignment on Prairie Bayou after Mike Smith rode the colt to victories in two minor stakes at Aqueduct.

Miner’s Mark is the Jim Beam starter with the best bloodlines. He is a son of Mr. Prospector and the first foal from Personal Ensign, who won the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in 1988 and retired with an undefeated record of 13 victories. Shug McGaughey, who trained Personal Ensign and also conditions Miner’s Mark, has had no reason to get excited about Miner’s Mark’s potential. The colt has won only two of five starts, but did score recently at 1 1/8 miles, the same distance as the Jim Beam, in an allowance at Gulfstream Park.

Jerry Bailey, who won the Jim Beam and two Triple Crown races with Hansel, will be riding Miner’s Mark.

Prairie Bayou drew the inside post, which used to be a handicap at Turfway but has been less of a factor in recent years. Outside him, in order, will come Awad, Proudest Romeo, Raglan Road, Miner’s Mark, Wild Gale, Deputy Sheriff, Fafa Lemos, Reggies Time Ex and Beyond His Years. All of the horses will carry 121 pounds, five less than they will carry in the Kentucky Derby.

The best 3-year-old running at Turfway on Saturday might turn out to be Jack Livingston, who is undefeated but unseasoned. Trainer Phil Gleaves will be running Jack Livingston in a minor stake on the Jim Beam card. Jose Santos has the mount.

Saturday is the late deadline for horses to be nominated to the Triple Crown races. Horses that weren’t nominated earlier for $600 can be made eligible by Saturday with a payment of $4,500.

If a horse isn’t nominated by Saturday, the only way it can run in the Kentucky Derby is through a supplementary payment of $150,000, which would also make him eligible for the Preakness and Belmont.

Among the prominent horses that weren’t nominated early is Devoted Brass, one of the contenders for the Santa Anita Derby a week from Saturday. Devoted Brass has been made eligible for the Santa Anita Derby with a supplementary payment of $20,000.

Horse Racing Notes

Siberian Summer, winner of the Strub Stakes at Santa Anita, is headed for the $750,000 Oakland Handicap in Arkansas on April 10. . . . Gary Stevens and Kent Desormeaux are riding in Dubai this week but are expected to be back in time for the late races on Saturday’s card at Santa Anita. Stevens has the mount on Star Of the Crop, the high weight at 119 pounds in the $100,000 Petrero Grande Handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs. Desormeaux is scheduled to ride Gary Slewpy, who will carry 118 pounds. Other horses entered are Cardmania, Apollo II, Honor the Hero, Regal Groom, Music Merci and Bag. . . . Former California jockey Ray Sibille began riding this week at Sportsman’s Park, the suburban Chicago track where he was the leading jockey in the late 1970s. Sibille left Southland tracks to ride in Northern California a couple of years ago, and he said he’s made the move to Chicago because of trainer Neil Boyce, who has run horses in both California and the Midwest. Sibille’s biggest victory came aboard Great Communicator in the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs. . . . Offshore Pirate, who ran second, 2 1/2 lengths behind Dixieland Heat, in last Saturday’s Louisiana Derby, is scheduled to start in the California Derby at Golden Gate Fields on April 10. . . . Lykatill Hill is headed for Keeneland, to run against Corby and an anticipated large field in the Blue Grass Stakes on April 10.