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.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - While the racing season in Southern California remains a 12-month continuum, a summer cutback in racing days at Hollywood Park and Del Mar reveals a challenge that will spill into autumn as tracks struggle to provide a quality product.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Hooh Why showed she would be a filly to reckon with here at Woodbine last November when she finished a close second facing males in the 1 1/16- mile Display Stakes.

On Sunday, Hooh Why returned as a Grade 1 winner and had all the answers under jockey Emile Ramsammy when she defeated fellow 3-year-old fillies in the $168,600 La Lorgnette at the same distance.

SHAKOPEE, Minn. The Mac Robertson-Derek Bell show picked up where it left off last season at Canterbury Park, as the trainer-jockey team swept both stakes here on Saturday.

AUBURN, Wash. Front-running sensation Claire Annette rolled to a 4 3/4-length victory Sunday in the $30,000 Hastings Park Handicap for fillies and mares at Emerald Downs.

Unbeaten and never headed in her past six starts, Claire Annette sprinted six furlongs in 1:08.60 to equal the stakes record set by Private Dreams in 2006. Ridden by Joe Crispin for trainer Connie Bouslaugh, the 6-year-old mare paid $4.80 as the betting favorite in a field of seven. Elusive Horizon finished second after racing close up throughout. Longshot Judicature closed for third.