Try any sql query such as this:
sele dist alltrim(accountno) as x,count(*)as counts from customer group by x order by counts desc
?_vfp.statusbar

Selected 24265 records in 0.78 seconds

However, if I try to set this to a variable I get this number every time.

sele dist alltrim(accountno) as x,count(*)as counts from customer group by x order by counts desc
x = _vfp.statusbar
?x
2252385