On occasion, Hollywood actors will put up their own money for projects they believe in if studios just won't bite. Then again, celebrities have loot to burn. Fairmount Park track photographer Jim Ansley doesn't.

On Aug. 27, Fairmount publicly unveiled a final cut of Ansley's 70-minute documentary, "Fairmount Park: 80 Years of Tradition." Available at $25 per DVD, copies of the film have since been relegated to the track's two backstretch tack shops and a website maintained by Ansley (www.vip-il.com).

Bill McNerney Jr., a longtime valet in Michigan, died Wednesday morning at his residence near Great Lakes Downs.

McNerney, 51, was instrumental in preparing Great Lakes for its inaugural meet while working for then-general manager Mike Mackey. After the opening, McNerney was a valet and the colors man in the jockeys' room. He later served as an association clocker. A native of Toledo, Ohio, McNerney's survivors include his daughter, Amanda.

Just a week remains in what can best be described as a tumultuous inaugural season at the new Evangeline Downs.

The buzz and excitement of moving into new racing and casino digs in April quickly gave way after the safety of the racing surface was questioned. Those concerns resulted in a six-week suspension of racing operations in order to overhaul the track's surface.

Churchill Downs Inc. and the Louisiana division of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association have agreed to conduct a 37-day race meet at Louisiana Downs this fall and winter, a curtailed version of a more than four-month Fair Grounds meet wiped out by Hurricane Katrina.

ELMONT, N.Y. - New Dimension, who was idle through the second half of the summer after scoring a pair of hard-fought victories in July, returns to action and looks for her third straight win in Thursday's eighth-race feature at 6 1/2 furlongs.

POMONA, Calif. - Trainer Cliff Sise was not the only one who wondered if Trailer Queen was ready for her comeback Aug. 22 at Del Mar.

Runner-up in a hot maiden race for 2-year-olds in her debut May 18, Trailer Queen's campaign subsequently stalled because of tender shins. She was just about ready for a comeback Aug. 6, but she coughed and was scratched from a race in which she was the 7-5 program favorite.

Jockey Harry Vega gave himself an early birthday present Tuesday afternoon when he guided the 4-year-old filly Quies ($5.20) to victory in the eighth race at Philadelphia Park.

Vega, who will turn 40 on Sept. 21, collected his 3,000th career victory in the mile-and-70-yard allowance race on the turf. As icing on the cake, Vega also won the 10th race with the 3-year-old filly Irish Diva ($6.40).

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Even though they finished third in last year's Atto Mile, Royal Regalia and trainer Justin Nixon still have something to prove in Sunday's renewal of the Grade 1 grass race.

Nixon and Royal Regalia have always seemed like an unlikely tandem to contend for a Grade 1 victory. Royal Regalia didn't win a race until he was 5, and that maiden victory came at Tampa Bay Downs. He has never won a graded stakes. Nixon's first winner came in a $2,500 claiming race at Penn National in 1996, and he has only two stakes wins in his 163 career victories.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Early September is always a hectic time for trainer Dale Romans. He stays busy when returning home from Saratoga, reconsolidating his huge stable and searching for future stars at the Keeneland yearling sales.

Of course, some things differ year to year. While recently involved in drafting revised language to the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority's new equine medication rules, Romans also withheld his entries from Turfway Park throughout opening week.

MIAMI - After spending the summer at Saratoga, trainer Ralph Ziadie will be piling up the frequent flier miles this fall, splitting time between Calder and Belmont Park.

Ziadie kept some members of his stable in New York for Belmont Park's fall championship meeting, including Grade 1 winner Silver Wagon - with an eye toward the Breeders' Cup Sprint on Oct. 29.