TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

Alydeed, the horse as well-known for missing races as running in them, will skip another one. Trainer Roger Attfield has announced that Alydeed will bypass the Belmont Stakes on June 6 to concentrate on running in the Canadian Triple Crown.

Attfield’s decision is a sound one. Alydeed, second to Pine Bluff in the Preakness in only his fifth start, is a bleeder. New York rules wouldn’t allow him to run on Lasix, a diuretic that curbs bleeding, in the Belmont.

“Why get in a position where there is no medication?� Attfield said. “Why experiment?�

Instead of running in the final race of the American Triple Crown series, the Woodbine-based Alydeed becomes an odds-on favorite in the Canadian Triple Crown, which will begin with the Queen’s Plate at 1 1/4 miles on dirt at Woodbine on July 5. The other races in the series are the Prince of Wales Stakes, which is 1 3/16 miles on dirt at Ft. Erie on July 26, and the Breeders’ Stakes, at 1 1/2 miles on grass, at Woodbine on Aug. 16. Alydeed is expected to prep for the Queen’s Plate by running in the Marine Stakes at Woodbine on June 7.

Woodbine and Ft. Erie are located in Ontario, the only Canadian province that allows bleeders to run with Lasix.

If Alydeed sweeps the Canadian Triple Crown, he would earn about $800,000 in purses, plus a $1-million bonus that is funded by the Bank of Montreal. The Canadian Triple, which began in 1959, had been swept only twice before the Bank of Montreal introduced the bonus in 1989. Since then, the bonus has been paid out all three years, with Dance Smartly winning it last year after sweeps by With Approval in 1989 and Izvestia in 1990. Alydeed races for Kinghaven Farms, which also campaigned With Approval and Izvestia under Attfield.

Craig Perret, who committed to Alydeed after riding Pine Bluff for most of his career, will continue to ride Attfield’s colt in Canada. “We all make a lot of choices,� Perret said after Pine Bluff, with Chris McCarron aboard for the first time, had outrun him and Alydeed in the Preakness. “You try to make the right one. Some choices are tougher than others. You go with your heart. I think everyone is going to have trouble with Alydeed from now on.�

A grandson of Alydar, Alydeed was bred in Canada, but he hasn’t run there since he won his first start, the Victoria Stakes at Woodbine last June. Ankle surgery for a bone chip followed, aborting Alydeed’s 2-year-old year. He began this year with a 9 1/2-length victory at Gulfstream Park, and that was followed by a series of on-again, off-again decisions by Attfield. Races that were planned but missed included the Swale Stakes at Gulfstream Park, the Jim Beam at Turfway Park and the Lexington at Keeneland. A lung infection and bad weather affected the horse’s schedule.

Alydeed bled for the first time in his third start, the What A Pleasure Stakes at Calder on March 29. The next time he ran, with Lasix, the colt easily won the Kentucky Derby Trial at Churchill Downs on April 25. Treated with Lasix again, Alydeed lost by only three-quarters of a length in the Preakness.

Alydeed’s problems, pulmonary bleeding combined with a lung infection, are not unlike those of Lil E. Tee, the Kentucky Derby winner who is also out of the Belmont. Lil E. Tee bled for the first time while running fifth in the Preakness, and will be eligible for Lasix in most states--but not New York--the next time he runs.

With Alydeed out of the race, an eight- or nine-horse field is expected for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont. Besides Pine Bluff, the probables are A.P. Indy and Colony Light, who ran 1-2 Sunday in the Peter Pan at Belmont; Casual Lies, who was second in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Preakness; Al Sabin, sixth in the Derby; Agincourt, seventh in the Preakness; Montreal Marty, a New York-bred with three victories and five seconds in 10 starts who has never won in open competition; Dixie Brass, winner against older horses in Monday’s Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont, and My Memoirs, recently purchased by Californians Barry Irwin and Jeff Siegel after winning at about 1 1/4 miles in England.

Another Belmont prospect is the gelding Berkley Fitz, who was claimed by his owner-trainer, Dave Monaci, for $10,000 out of a race he won at Gulfstream Park in February. Since then, Berkley Fitz has won one allowance race out of five starts, and was third in the Peter Pan. Not nominated for the Triple Crown races, Berkley Fitz would have to be supplemented into the Belmont for a fee of $50,000. In 13 starts, the horse has earned scarcely more than that.

TRIPLE CROWN RATINGS

Horse S 1 2 3 Earnings 1.Pine Bluff 12 6 1 2 $1,164,108 2.A.P. Indy 7 6 0 0 828,935 3.Lil E. Tee 10 5 3 1 1,177,106 4.Casual Lies 11 5 1 3 665,468 5.Alydeed 5 3 1 1 269,212 6.Dance Floor 13 4 4 1 751,099 7.Arazi 10 8 1 0 1,117,608 8.Technology 8 4 1 1 464,963 9.Dixie Brass 9 6 0 1 503,163 10.Pistols And Roses 11 6 2 2 821,046

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.