TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

REMARKS: Bob Quigley, the president of Garden State Park, and Eual Wyatt, the track’s racing secretary, will be in Los Angeles this weekend to have dinner with Carl Grinstead and Ben Rochelle, the owners of Snow Chief.

Garden State would like to see Snow Chief run in the Garden State Stakes April 19 and the Jersey Derby May 26.

“I’d like to stick to my original plan, which is a race a month,” said Mel Stute, Snow Chief’s trainer. “However, as you know, the owners of the horse are profit-motivated.”

Stute himself once said that Snow Chief’s goal is to break John Henry’s earnings record of $6.5 million. The Garden State Stakes is a $200,000 race, but a horse that wins it, the Kentucky Derby and the $1-million Jersey Derby can also collect a $1-million bonus.

The first Derby on the minds of Grinstead, Rochelle and Stute is the $500,000 Santa Anita Derby Sunday. A seven-horse field is likely, with Snow Chief being joined by Variety Road, Ferdinand, Big Play, Icy Groom, Imperious Spirit and Jetting Home.

This will be a busy weekend for 3-year-olds pointing for the Kentucky Derby May 3. Eight of the horses in the top 10 will be running.

There are three races Saturday, the Flamingo at Hialeah, the Gotham at Aqueduct and the Cherry Hill Mile at Garden State Park.

A small field is likely in the Flamingo, with Badger Land the heavy favorite. Tasso, Pillaster and Zabaleta are expected to run in the Gotham, and Mogambo is scheduled to run in the Cherry Hill Mile. One Magic Moment, second to Badger Land in the Everglades Stakes at Hialeah March 22, had been a probable starter for the Cherry Hill, but now is doubtful after having taken sick in Florida over the weekend.

Laffit Pincay will be riding Tasso again Saturday, after having been replaced by Eddie Maple for the colt’s win in the Manassa Mauler Stakes at Aqueduct March 15. Trainer Neil Drysdale told Pincay to stay in Los Angeles, thinking he would probably scratch Tasso, but then the New York weather improved and Maple was named at the last minute.

That was a bit of a switch. In recent years, Pincay has taken some of Maple’s horses and won big races--winners Conquistador Cielo and Caveat in the Belmont Stakes, and Swale, who won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont.

Pincay, who has won the Santa Anita Derby seven times, has been named to ride Imperious Spirit Sunday. Frank Olivares rode Imperious Spirit in his last two starts, including a second-place finish behind Icy Groom in the Bradbury Stakes at Santa Anita March 19.

The Times’ panel was not impressed with Rare Brick’s win by a head in Saturday’s Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park, even though it was the undefeated colt’s seventh straight victory. Rare Brick barely lasted over Clear Choice, a maiden who had failed to win in six California races.

“Rare Brick doesn’t look like the kind of a horse who can get a mile and a quarter,” said Wayne Lukas, who trains Clear Choice. “He’s stockily built, kind of reminding you of Hilco Scamper (a top sprinter last year).”

TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

Career Horse S 1 2 3 Earnings 1. Snow Chief 12 8 2 1 $1,444,040 2. Tasso 8 6 1 1 $794,534 3. Badger Land 11 4 2 0 $353,825 4. Variety Road 8 3 4 0 $210,925 5. Ferdinand 8 2 3 2 $265,900 6. Mogambo 9 3 1 4 $380,096 7. Pillaster 5 3 1 0 $248,390 8. Country Light 5 4 1 0 $174,259 9. Rare Brick 7 7 0 0 $179,820 10. Zabaleta 3 2 1 0 $118,250

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