STICKNEY, Ill. - Some horsemen get nervous shipping one horse across a state by van. Try moving 44 head at the same time from the Bay Area in California to Chicago.

That was exactly the massive undertaking trainer Jerry Hollendorfer's stable went through last week, as Hollendorfer, the perennial leading trainer in northern California, readied his newly formed Chicago string for the opening of Arlington's meet June 13. All 44 horses flew together on a DC-9 transport plane, which alone cost almost $80,000 and occasioned no end of logistical maneuvering.

ELMONT, N.Y. - While riding at the top of his game professionally for the last eight months, jockey John Velazquez has also been riding an emotional roller-coaster personally.

After enduring a broken collarbone in August and the death of close family friend Marjorie Cordero in January, Velazquez was dealt another setback this week. Tuesday night he was informed that his father was admitted to a hospital in Puerto Rico and may have leukemia.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Rowdy Ruckus, fresh off one of the better performances of his career, is among a field of nine in Friday's contentious Woodbine feature, a $62,500 optional claimer for 3-year-olds and up. Also in the 1 1/16-mile race is Thatsthebottomline, a Canadian-bred 3-year-old who is eligible to the $1 million Queen's Plate on June 24.

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - The first four finishers from an allowance prep, plus last year's CTHS Saskatchewan juvenile filly of the year, and a ship-in from Manitoba form the long list of contenders in Friday's six-furlong Marquis Oaks at Marquis Downs.

Three of the contestants are stakes winners and three are stakes-placed in an evenly-matched field of nine 3-year-old fillies.

Rapadash will make her first start of the season in the Oaks after having been named the province's Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society champ.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Dalliance and Silver Rocket will be the ones to beat at Assiniboia in Friday's featured sixth race, a six-furlong conditioned allowance.

Silver Rocket, who will break from post 4, is the probable speed of the race. Trained by Darla Singh and ridden by Rohan Singh, Silver Rocket finished second behind Smoky Cinder in his first start of the year and then ran third behind Kalfaari and Dark Devil at this level May 21.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Although based in New York, trainer Linda Rice has had Saturday's $500,000 Labatt Woodbine Oaks on her mind all year for Quick Blue.

"Considering that she's a Canadian-bred, and she had shown quite a bit of potential in her workouts, we've had the Oaks in the back of our mind all along," said Rice. "Whether or not we were going to get there or not was, of course, always a question."

AUBURN, Wash. - Oh Molly, who regained her winning form in her most recent outing, will set out to make it two wins in a row when she takes on five other fillies and mares in Thursday's one-mile feature for $20,000-$18,000 claimers at Emerald Downs.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Point Given swept the Triple Crown of post draws Wednesday, drawing the far outside post for the third time in three Triple Crown events this year.

Post positions are not generally considered of much importance in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes, but Point Given's draw of post nine in the nine-horse field was enough to make trainer Bob Baffert chime in with a comment.

"There's a fix in," joked Baffert of Point Given's penchant for outside posts in random post draws.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The attention on Saturday's 133rd Belmont Stakes rightly centers on the third-round match between Monarchos, the Kentucky Derby winner, and Point Given, who won the Preakness Stakes. This will be the first time since 1994 that different horses won the Derby and Preakness and then squared off in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont.

MIAMI - An investigator from the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering was sent to Hialeah on Tuesday to audit the horseman's accounts for the track's recently concluded 2001 meeting. The Florida Division of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association has complained that the track has been inordinately slow in paying the approximately $5.380 million owed owners and trainers.

Hialeah sent $4 million owed the horsemen on May 25, three days after the 2001 meet concluded, and an additional $585,000 on Monday night. As of Tuesday they still owed horsemen nearly $800,000.