INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Julie Krone rode the first winner of her week-old comeback on Thursday at Hollywood Park. And the victory could not have come any easier.

Krone, a member of racing's Hall of Fame and the world's winningest female rider with 3,546 winners, rode Jade Vixen ($3.80) to a comfortable six-length win against maiden claimers in the eighth race.

The victory was the first success of a comeback that had been several months in the making. "I got a little teary-eyed when I pulled up," she said.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The majority of Dat You Miz Blue's wins have come on the dirt, but the 5-year-old Cure the Blues mare, who first ran on the turf earlier this year, has some solid efforts on the grass.

With turf experience on her side, Dat You Miz Blue seeks her first stakes win on the grass in Sunday's $100,000 Perfect Arc at Aqueduct.

The one-mile Perfect Arc, restricted to the progeny of New York-based stallions, has attracted a field of 11, including last year's winner and runner-up, Wake Up Kiss and Lovely Amanda.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Ongoing negotiations with an insurance company has pushed the potential launch date of a less expensive worker's compensation program for California trainers from Nov. 15 to Nov. 22 at the earliest, according to a top racing official.

The new policies will be administered by American International Group, and were first presented to trainers in September. There have been repeated delays in the last three months.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Roger Attfield won the 2000 running of the Glorious Song Stakes with Poetically, who went on to receive the Sovereign Award as Canada's champion 2-year-old filly.

And while Attfield doesn't expect Sunday's renewal of the Glorious Song to lead to similar honors for either of his two entrants, he does have high long-term hopes for both Smart Angel and Neblina, who are in a field of six for the seven-furlong feature.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Aside from saddling Malcoha, a 10-year-old gelding, to three consecutive wins in the summer, Wilf Jones

hasn't had too much to cheer about this year.

Going into the final four days of the meet the trainer had recorded just six wins from 53 starts, a far cry from 2000 when he won 24 times in 92 starts and reached fifth place in the standings here.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Beautiful America's only loss came against males in the New York Breeders' Futurity in September. Her record against fillies is a perfect 3 for 3.

Sunday at Aqueduct, Beautiful America goes after her third consecutive stakes win in the $125,000 Fifth Avenue for 2-year-old fillies. The six-furlong Fifth Avenue is one of four races on Sunday's card for the progeny of New York-based stallions.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A persistent rainstorm has forced Hollywood Park officials to scrap weekend turf racing and move both stakes to the main track - the $125,000 Matiara for 3-year-old fillies Saturday and the $70,000 Steinlen Handicap for older horses Sunday. Five turf races scheduled Friday and Saturday were switched to dirt; the Sunday card is main track only.

Even in wet weather, turf stakes typically are not taken off the grass two days beforehand. But racing secretary Martin Panza saw no reason to delay the inevitable decision.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - One obvious question surrounded the feature race Thursday at Churchill Downs: Would Allamerican Bertie care for the turf?

The answer was a resounding yes.

Allamerican Bertie, a 3-year-old filly who finished a close second to Farda Amiga in the Alabama Stakes in August, led all the way under Pat Day to win her turf debut with ease. Allamerican Bertie, owned by the Klein family of Louisville, won the $55,475 allowance race by eight lengths, defeating seasoned turf mares such as Histoire Saint, Solvig, and Sitka. She returned $3.60 as the heavy favorite.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When the Churchill Downs fall meet lasts four weeks instead of five, the traditional stakes schedule fits neatly on the calendar, with a stakes race matched to every weekend date.

But with a quirk in the calendar elongating the 2002 meet to five weeks, there are a few unavoidable holes. For instance, there is no stakes on the 10-race program Sunday, when three allowance races fill the void.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Chalk players are ready to go into hiding at Hawthorne. Through Thursday's program, favorites had won only 24 percent of the races during the first five days of this meet. Full fields, a significantly speed-biased main track, and a fundamental shift in the qualities needed to win races have combined to bury many short-priced horses.

On Wednesday, the average win price here was $20, while Thursday's average winning mutuel was a healthy $17. After a couple shorter-priced winners early on the card, winners of the last five races paid between $10.80 and $42.