TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS : Get Them to the Track Just in Time

Although the 120th running of the Preakness Stakes, the middle leg of the Triple Crown, is scheduled for Saturday at Pimlico, only a few of the contenders are on hand.

Thunder Gulch, the Kentucky Derby winner, isn’t due here until Wednesday, on a plane from Kentucky that will also deliver Timber Country, Talkin Man, Mecke and Our Gatsby. Oliver’s Twist, another Preakness probable, trains on a farm about 50 miles from Pimlico and will be the latest of the late, reaching the track Saturday morning, about six hours before the race.

In a field of 11 probables, the other contenders are Derby runner-up Tejano Run, Mystery Storm, Star Standard, Itron and Citadeed.

Wayne Lukas, who has trained the most starters in the Derby and the Preakness, brought Codex, his first Preakness horse, to Pimlico just a few days before the race in 1980. Codex won, and Lukas has arrived late with many of his Preakness horses since.

Lukas’ three starters in this year’s Derby--Thunder Gulch, Timber Country and the filly Serena’s Song--brought his total to 26, two more than Derby Dick Thompson, who raced at Churchill Downs in the 1920s and ‘30s. Last year, when Lukas won his third Preakness, with Tabasco Cat, he started his 16th horse in the race, giving him outright possession of a record that he had shared with Max Hirsch and Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons. Lukas’ other Preakness winner was Tank’s Prospect in 1985.

Despite Thunder Gulch’s Derby victory, Lukas said that it wouldn’t be surprising if his other horse, Timber Country, went off favored in the Preakness. Timber Country lacked Thunder Gulch’s perfect trip in finishing third, beaten by about 2 1/4 lengths, at Churchill Downs.

Clem Florio, the Pimlico linemaker, doesn’t share Lukas’ enthusiasm for Timber Country. Florio said last week that Thunder Gulch, who was 24-1 in the Derby, would probably be the 2-1 favorite on the Preakness morning line. Talkin Man, 12th at 4-1 in the Derby, is expected to be the second choice Saturday. The stewards could couple the Lukas horses in the betting, but have made no move to do so. Thunder Gulch and Timber Country have different owners.

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THE RATINGS

Horse S 1 2 3 Earnings 1. Thunder Gulch 10 5 2 1 $1,423,406 2. Timber Country 11 4 1 4 1,113,590 3. Tejano Run 9 3 3 2 626,147 4. Talkin Man 9 5 1 0 677,967 5. Jumron 9 5 2 1 404,380 6. Afternoon Deelites 7 5 1 0 668,125 7. Serena’s Song 15 8 2 1 1,231,435 8. Eltish 8 3 2 2 380,373 9. Mecke 18 5 3 6 373,570 10. Oliver’s Twist 8 4 1 0 253,275

Advisory panel for The Times’ Triple Crown Ratings: Racing historian Jim Bolus; Trevor Denman, announcer at four Southern California tracks; Tom Durkin, track announcer in New York and Florida; and Dave Johnson, racing telecaster for ABC and ESPN.