Up 'n Blumin proved worthy of her 2-5 favoritism with a front-running four-length win in Friday's $28,600 Falls Amiss Handicap on day two of Horsemen's Park's four-day Festival of Racing before a crowd estimated at more than 12,000 by track officials.

Ridden by R.D. Williams, Up 'n Blumin opened a clear early lead, then continued strongly into the stretch to defeat five other Nebraska-bred fillies and mares in the one-mile race. She covered the distance in 1:40.80 over a fast track and returned $2.80.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Purim is a big horse all over. His head is no exception. Gun Salute seemed to have Purim measured in the stretch of the on Saturday at Arlington, rallying up to Purim's flank at the sixteenth pole and gradually edging toward the lead. But one major body part still stood in the way.

"How big is that horse's head, anyway?" asked Kenny McCarthy, assistant to Gun Salute's trainer, Bill Mott. "I didn't think we were ever going to get by."

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Last year, when Cool Conductor saw daylight during a race he would make a run for it, dragging his rider along with him. That is no way to run for a turf horse that needs to save something for the finish, and Cool Conductor was worse for it.

MIAMI - As is often the case around these parts during a summer racing season that seems to drag on endlessly, many of the better horses on the grounds head north for greener pastures, with the bulk of the stakes schedule at Calder geared toward 2-year-olds in the fall.

Among the local stars looking elsewhere for racing opportunities in August are Pampered Princess and Silver Wagon, the undisputed leaders of their respective divisions.

VALLEJO, Calif. - The gates close Monday at the Solano County Fair, and the feature epitomizes the type of racing that for the most part has dominated here in recent years: a $12,500 claimer at one mile.

With the main portion of the fair closing Sunday, Monday's racing offers free parking and free admission. And while the seven-horse feature is rather mundane, it is also an interesting betting race, with two runners coming north from Hollywood Park, three horses running for new barns, and one coming off a 14-month layoff.

MUSKEGON, Mich. - Exclusivenjoyment and Rockem Sockem, who ran off and hid from their competition in an allowance race two weeks ago, face eight rivals in Tuesday's 39th running of the Michigan Breeders' Cup at Great Lakes Downs.

The $50,000 Breeders' Cup, a 1 1/16-mile race restricted to Michigan-breds, ages 3 and up, goes as race 5 on a nine-race card that begins at 5 p.m. Eastern.

DEL MAR, Calif. - The strongest horses in the West Coast turf division collide Sunday in the Grade 1 at Del Mar, where the only thing missing is a pace rival for Sweet Return.

Grade 1 milers Castledale and Singletary pose the main late challenges in the 1 1/8-mile Read, but as trainer Ron McAnally considered the lack of speed in the race, he was reminded of the slow fractions Sweet Return set winning the 2003 Hollywood Derby.

"Three-quarters in 1:17 . . . I'd like to see that Sunday," McAnally said, "especially on a turf course as fast as this one."

DEL MAR, Calif. - Nearly a year has passed since Choctaw Nation won the $250,000 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar to stretch his unbeaten streak to five.

He has not won in four starts since the 2004 San Diego. Choctaw Nation was a game third in the $6 million Dubai World Cup on March 26 and fifth in the Grade 2 Californian Stakes at Hollywood Park on June 18.

Sunday, can end that losing streak when he attempts to defend his title in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap over 1 1/16 miles.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Del Mar is considering installing an all-weather Polytrack surface for its 2006 meeting, pending a feasibility study and budget analysis, track vice president Craig Fravel said Friday.

Fravel said a decision will be made in October on whether to go forward on the new surface for next year.

Fravel said the project will cost between $4 million and $5 million and that finding 15,000 tons of suitable sand that can be treated with material to create the Polytrack surface is one of the biggest issues facing the project.

ELMONT, N.Y. - West Virginia has taken an unorthodox route to get to Sunday's $100,000 Evan Shipman Stakes, but at least he got here. Now, his connections believe he could be ready to put forth a show-stopping performance on closing day at the Belmont summer meet.

The Evan Shipman, a 1 1/16-mile dirt race restricted to New York-breds, is the featured event on the closing-day card. Racing moves to Saratoga for six weeks beginning Wednesday.