GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - It's a Bird has established himself as one of the top older horses in the country this year, and on Monday he will be looking for his third major stakes win in his last four starts when he runs in the Grade 3, $400,000 Lone Star Park Handicap.

Long Island Rail Road train service from Penn Station in New York City directly into Belmont Park is expected to be restored next Thursday, May 28, pending Metropolitan Transit Authority board approval the day before, the New York Racing Association said in a release Tuesday.

The "Belmont Special" had been eliminated as part of a series of budget cuts and proposed fare hikes by the MTA, parent agency of the LIRR.

MIAMI - Dave Vivian needed someone to step up and help pay the bills while his big horse Soldier's Dancer gets some well-deserved rest and relaxation this summer. Along came Grand Cash to fill the void.

Grand Cash, a 3-year-old son of Belong to Me, looked like the spitting image of his older stablemate on Sunday, rallying from dead last to post a half-length victory over Cinnamon Road in the Lord Juban overnight stakes.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Everyone should have their plans come together so well. After nine months of waiting, hoping, and plotting, trainer Greg Fox watched with delight Sunday at Churchill Downs as Tizdejavu made his first start since surgery a successful one by capturing a $57,780 turf allowance under Julien Leparoux.

"I'm thrilled," Fox, a former practicing equine veterinarian who turned to training four years ago, said Tuesday. "The colt came out of the race in perfect shape."

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - New venue, no problem.

Donnie Von Hemel, stabling on a synthetic surface for the first time since Remington Park's Equitrack experiment in the late 1980s, has been among the most active trainers early at the 2009 Arlington Park meet. Von Hemel, who pulled up stakes at Lone Star to summer in Chicago, had made 21 starts through Sunday's racing, winning four races. Only a handful of outfits - all Arlington regulars - have sent out more runners.

"We've been happy so far," Von Hemel said Tuesday morning. "It looks like we're fairly competitive here."

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It was 19 months ago on another continent when U S Ranger last won a race, in Ireland on Sept. 30, 2007. Yet when he starts Monday in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile, U S Ranger enters with proper credentials to win the $250,000 race.

Neil Drysdale trains U S Ranger, a listed stakes winner in Europe and runner-up by a head last July at Newmarket in the Group 1 July Cup. The 5-year-old's U.S. campaign has been slow to develop, but Drysdale believes he is sitting on a big effort after a good third-place finish in the Grade 3 Inglewood Handicap.

A large, competitive field and the drama surrounding the entry of Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday combined to restore wagering figures on the race to near all-time highs, according to handle numbers released by the track.

Trainer James T. Wright won his 1,000th race on Sunday when Forever Beauty ($7.80) won the fifth race at Finger Lakes.

Field Commission ($46.90) sprung an upset in the $165,900 Vigil Stakes on Monday at Woodbine, scoring by 1 1/2 lengths over 56-1 outsider Dozen Dancer and 7-1 shot Timely Advice in the Grade 3 race.

The $2 exactor returned $1,301.40.

Shadowless and Disfunction dueled through fractions of 23.43 and 46.06 seconds in the seven-furlong sprint, as Field Commission raced in mid-pack in a three-wide position on the turn.

ALBANY, Calif. - Russell Baze is riding high as the winningest jockey in the world again.

Baze claimed that title in December 2006 when he surpassed Laffit Pincay's world record of 9,530 victories. He was passed by Brazilian rider Jorge Ricardo two months later.

Baze regained the distinction as the world's winningest rider Thursday, with a pair of victories at Golden Gate Fields that put him two ahead of Ricardo's total of 10,520 victories.

The 47-year-old Ricardo has been sidelined since suffering a fractured skull in March.