Horse Racing News by Jay Privman

It was getaway day on Sunday at Oaklawn Park, with the top finishers from the Arkansas Derby moving up the road to Louisville, Ky., and Zenyatta heading home to Southern California

The trend has been unmistakable. Time and again in recent months, across all divisions, horses have been leaving Southern California, having raced or trained on the synthetic surfaces at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park, and won when moving to dirt.

In an effort that thoroughly delighted the crowd of 44,973 that stuffed itself into Oaklawn Park on Friday, the great Zenyatta ran her perfect record to 16-0 with another flawless performance.

Custom for Carlos usually has the need for speed, but he showed a new dimension on Friday, rallying from slightly off the pace under a clever ride by Mike Smith to win the Grade 3, $150,000 Count Fleet Handicap for older sprinters at Oaklawn Park.

Patience. Simple, virtuous patience. It's the operative word for the trainers of the three top choices in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on Saturday here at Oaklawn Park.

Custom for Carlos began the year at Gulfstream Park, went to Aqueduct last month, and now is here at Oaklawn Park, where he will run on Friday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Count Fleet Handicap for older sprinters.

Zenyatta on Wednesday morning took her first tour of the Oaklawn Park main track since her arrival 24 hours earlier, making one lap around the one-mile dirt oval with her regular exercise rider, Steve Willard.

About a year ago at this time, few had ever heard of trainer Tim Ice. But he certainly made a name for himself the rest of 2009 with Summer Bird, who won the Belmont Stakes, Travers Stakes, and Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Lookin At Lucky is no worse than the co-favorite for the Kentucky Derby and is an odds-on favorite on the morning line for Saturday's Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.

Quiet Temper exited her extensive winter at Fair Grounds exactly where trainer Dale Romans hoped she would be, on target for the April 30 Kentucky Oaks, by virtue of a hard-fought victory in the Grade 2, $300,000 Fair Grounds Oaks on Friday.