HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Tiz Miz Sue put herself in the Apple Blossom picture Saturday at Oaklawn Park when, before a crowd of 33,963, she defended her title in the Azeri by defeating local divisional leader Don’t Tell Sophia, who was second, and comebacking champion My Miss Aurelia, who was third.

The Grade 3, $150,000 race serves as a steppingstone to the Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom, which will be run at Oaklawn on April 12.

“That’s a definite target,” said Steve Hobby, who trains Tiz Miz Sue for Cresran LLC.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Centre Court returned from a four-month vacation like she’d never been away, parlaying a perfectly judged ride by Julien Leparoux into a convincing 1 3/4-length victory over Samitar in Saturday’s $150,000 Honey Fox at Gulfstream Park.

Icon Ike loves the Fair Grounds turf course, and he won his fourth race from six starts over the local lawn Saturday, capturing the $73,500 Colonel Power Stakes by 2 3/4 lengths.

The win was impressive and, coupled with the general arc of Icon Ike’s form, left the sense that the 4-year-old Icon Ike could take his New Orleans turf-sprint act to bigger stages later this year.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Despite her victory as a maiden in the Dearly Precious Stakes last month, Elghayoor was dismissed as the 6-1 third choice in Saturday’s $100,000 Cicada Stakes at Aqueduct.

Elghayoor made her nonbelievers pay dearly as she rallied strongly under Eddie Castro and outfinished 1-2 favorite Highestmaintenance to win the Cicada by one-half length. Highestmaintenance, who tussled early with I’m Mom’s Favorite, finished second by 1 1/4 lengths over I’m Mom’s Favorite. Railtown Girl, Kiss the Lady, and Sense of Reality completed the order of finish.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Magic Hour took the lead when Sister Earth broke down after a half-mile in the $50,000 Wayward Lass, then turned back challenges from the quarter pole home to register a hard-earned, one-length victory in the 29th running of the 1 1/16-mile fixture for fillies and mares.

Norman Asbjornson had a reputation for consistently picking up small pieces of purses in stakes without ever winning an added-money event. It certainly looked like that trend would continue Saturday afternoon at Laurel Park when Eighttofasttocatch came into the stretch of the $90,500 Harrison Johnson Memorial Stakes with a huge lead while Norman Asbjornson was chugging along far behind.

But Eighttofasttocatch’s bid to win the Johnson for the third straight year was foiled when Norman Asbjornson came flying late to blow past the tiring pacesetter.

Trainer Mike Maker won the 1,000^th race of his career when Magical Season captured the third race Saturday at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

Maker, who turned 44 on Feb. 9, first had a trainer’s license as a 24-year-old in 1993, but after winning 13 races from 94 starters that year, he became an assistant to trainer Wayne Lukas, a position Maker held for 10 years.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer John Terranova said Saturday that Falling Sky, the winner of the Sam Davis Stakes and the third-place finisher in the Tampa Bay Derby, would make his next start in the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn on April 13.

Terranova said he was pleased with Falling Sky’s performance in the Tampa Bay Derby but was a little disappointed he couldn’t finish second to Verrazano.

“He came out of the race very well; he’s going to be very fit coming off two races at

The performance by trainer Todd Pletcher’s latest 3-year-old sensation, Zaikov, here Friday was all the talk during training hours Saturday.

Zaikov, a homebred son of Distorted Humor out of the $2 million earner Wait a While, won his debut by more than 11 lengths while earning a 99 Beyer Speed Figure. Zaikov is owned by Alan Cohen’s Arindel Farm, which also campaigned Grade 1 turf winner Wait a While.

Shakin It Up and Titletown Five are among the early probables for the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby on Sunday. The field for the 1 1/8-mile race was starting to take shape Saturday, with entries to be drawn Wednesday.

“The Sunland Derby looks to be a full field,” said Dustin Dix, director of racing operations for Sunland.

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

Dix said the maximum the gate can hold is 12.