Julie Krone is making a comeback.

The all-time winningest female jockey said Friday she's ready to return to the races after retiring in April 1999 with these words: "There's no chance of me riding again.''

"Time heals all wounds,'' Krone said from her home in Carlsbad, Calif. "Del Mar is right in my backyard, and I've been around a track ever since I stopped riding. I've been working hard. I'm ready to go. Can't wait. It's exciting.''

	Krone on one of the three winning horses she rode the day she retired, April 18, 1999.

Krone, 39, said her target date is some time after the Breeders' Cup on Oct. 26. The popular rider with the squeaky voice said her first ride could come either at the end of the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita, or early next month at Hollywood Park.

Krone, inducted into racing's Hall of Fame in 2000, is the only female to win a Triple Crown race -- she won the 1993 Belmont Stakes aboard Colonial Affair. On her last day of racing, Krone rode three winners at Lone Star Park, giving her 3,545 victories in more than 20,000 races.

Krone had two terrifying spills in the mid 1990s that led to her retirement after 18 years as a jockey.

Two months after winning the '93 Belmont, Krone was seriously injured at Saratoga. She shattered her right ankle, bruised her heart and punctured an elbow. The ankle injury required two steel plates and 14 screws to repair.

Just 13 days after her return in 1995, Krone broke both hands when thrown from her mount at the top of the stretch at Gulfstream Park.

For the past two summers, Krone said she's been galloping horses -- last summer for trainer Richard Mandella and this past summer for Laura De Seroux at San Luis Rey Downs.

"I breeze or gallop from three to eight horses for Laura,'' Krone said. "It's funny because when I was first galloping I didn't ever expect to be comfortable again. But it's changed. I feel very comfortable.''

After retiring, a series of events led Krone back to the race track.

"My mother, who was terminally ill, passed away; I worked in TV for a while and then moved to the West Coast to start a new life,'' Krone said. "You walk around, and it's just a good feeling. I'm still young. I wouldn't ever attempt something like this if I wasn't 110 percent. I'm ready to go again.''