STANTON, Del. - Graham Motion runs a stable in perpetual motion, no pun intended. He has 30 horses at Delaware Park, 15 at Fair Hill, and a handful soon headed to Saratoga.

Early Thursday morning, amid the deafening quiet of the Delaware backstretch, the English-born Motion was waiting for a van to take one of his horses to a veterinary clinic in Virginia, but a major logjam on Interstate 95 on the northeast side of Baltimore had him reconsidering that plan.

"I wonder if I should even bother," he said.

OMAHA, Neb. - Horsemen's Park rolls into the second day of its three-day festival of racing on Saturday with two stakes races on the four-race card, which begins at 2 p.m. The $30,000 Queen's Handicap for fillies at six furlongs and the $27,500 Nebraskaland Handicap for older Nebraska-breds at a mile share top billing on the card.

MIAMI - It may sound like a broken record, but it was raining when entries were drawn Thursday for Saturday's $50,000 Roman Brother Stakes at Calder, a 1 1/16 miles turf stakes for 3-year-olds that seemed destined to wind up on the main track.

Calder's turf course has had practically no action the past six weeks; only two races were run on grass here since June 9, a fact that probably helped the Roman Brother draw nine entries, several of whom likely will start only if the race goes on dirt.

VALLEJO, Calif. - A field of fillies loaded for speed is set for Saturday's $40,000-added Fairfield Stakes at six furlongs at the Solano County Fair.

The speedsters, Pali Princess, Summer Lite, Erica's Smile, and Cinnful Bride (who makes her first start since winning the Bam's Penny last October at Bay Meadows), are joined by Benefit Party and Clickety Cat.

Local trainers Bill Morey, his son Bill, and John Anderson all considered the race carefully. Both Moreys decided to run; Anderson decided to pass the race.

Quarter Horse racing's top-ranked 3-year-old, A Real Man, and its number-one juvenile, Zip First, put their rankings on the line this weekend in the Grade 1, $199,344 Rainbow Derby and the Grade 1, $635,470 Rainbow Futurity at Ruidoso Downs.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Jockey Brian Bochinski was hoping to have a little fun when he went to Woodbine to ride Le Cinquieme Essai in a turf allowance race July 7.

Le Cinquieme Essai was coming off a 7 3/4-length score in a 1 1/16-mile maiden race at Fort Erie a month earlier.

"I've always liked the horse, but I really thought I was in for a tough battle," said Bochinski, who has 1,693 lifetime wins heading into Saturday's card.

SALEM, N.H. - With five stakes in the books at the Rockingham meet, the score is Shippers 4, Locals 1. Esteemed Friend will try to close that gap Saturday in the $25,000 Rockingham Sprint Handicap.

Esteemed Friend, an 8-year-old gelding, instantly became the class of the region when owner Anthony Pyliotis bought him from a New York claiming race at the beginning of the year. His 17 victories while competing with the top East Coast sprinters earned him respect, and two odds-on victories at Suffolk Downs have made him a fan favorite.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - War Emblem, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes earlier this year, worked seven furlongs in a quick 1:23.40 on Wednesday at Santa Anita, preparing for a start in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Aug. 4.

War Emblem, unraced since finishing eighth in the Belmont Stakes on June 8 in an attempt to win the Triple Crown, recorded the fastest of five works at the distance.

There is no shame in getting beaten six lengths by Azeri, especially considering the race in question came after a six-month layoff.

That's one reason trainer John Shirreffs - who took over the training of Starrer after the filly ended her 3-year-old campaign with a victory in the Grade 2 Bayakoa Handicap last December - believes the Delaware Handicap could be an ideal spot for Starrer.

Their classic dreams dashed, Belmont also-rans Magic Weisner and Wiseman's Ferry are set to return to action in Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown, in North Randall, Ohio.

They were entered Wednesday - along with three others - for the 1 1/8-mile Ohio Derby, the richest race in the state. Magic Weisner, the runner-up in the Preakness Stakes, drew post 4, and Lone Star Derby winner Wiseman's Ferry is alongside in post 5. The field, from the rail out, is completed by The Judge Sez Who, Grey Beard, and Peekskill.