HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Nick Zito has kept Sun King out of the limelight and away from the races since his third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. But after spending the last several months training in the relative anonymity of Palm Meadows, Sun King will ship down the turnpike to launch his 3-year-old campaign, in the second and stronger division of a split entry-level allowance race carded at a mile Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The list of entrants for Saturday's $150,000 at Santa Anita may differ significantly from those that start.

Stakes winners Choctaw Nation and Mass Media have been entered, but on Thursday their trainers said they are far from certain to run in the seven-furlong sprint.

Their absence would rob the Grade 2 San Carlos Handicap of two quality horses. Choctaw Nation won the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap last summer; Mass Media won the Grade 3 Sport Page Handicap at Aqueduct last fall.

NEW ORLEANS - Last month, America Alive came flying down the center of the turf course to win the Col. Bradley Handicap by a head in one of the most thrilling races of this Fair Grounds meet. He finished in front of Honor in War and Rapid Proof, both of whom were closing fast and were separated by a nose for place. All three of those horses will line up again Saturday in the $125,000 Fair Grounds Breeders' Cup Handicap, the prep race for the Grade 2, $500,000 Melvin Muniz Memorial Handicap on March 19.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Miss Fortunate could catch a lucky break in the $75,000 Rare Treat Handicap on Saturday at Aqueduct.

are the co-highweights at 118 pounds in the field of six fillies and mares going 1 1/8 miles. Friel's for Real, however, has also been entered in the $50,000 Maryland Racing Media Handicap at Laurel at the same distance on the same afternoon.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - Tampa Bay runs three stakes on Saturday's Preview Day program, headlined by the $100,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes. In addition to the Davis, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds, the 12-race card includes the $100,000 Endeavour Stakes for fillies and mares on turf and the $60,000 Suncoast Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the main track.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Defending riding champion Juan Gutierrez returns to action with two mounts on Saturday's card at Portland Meadows.

Gutierrez was shaken up in a spill here in December and stood to lose at least a week of riding while recovering from soreness. He decided to take that opportunity to have elective surgery on a troublesome knee, and he has spent the intervening weeks in rehabilitation. Gutierrez had been aiming to return in early March, but he made better-than-expected progress and will now launch his comeback a week early.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Truly a Judge, the ex-claimer turned graded-stakes winner, has a clearly defined role in the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 5. The 7-year-old gelding is best from the front and will try to seize the Big Cap from the start.

The tactics worked in the Native Diver and San Gabriel handicaps in December and January, but resulted in a second to Lundy's Liability in the San Antonio Handicap at 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 6.

The front-running style will be fully tested in the Santa Anita Handicap, Truly a Judge's first start at 1 1/4 miles.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - When Heavenly Humor and Allswellthatnswell hooked up in the Stanford Stakes last spring at Bay Meadows, Allswellthatnswell got the jump on her rival and won the race.

The two meet again Saturday in the $55,000-added Soviet Problem Handicap, a six-furlong race that attracted six fillies and mares.

ran twice after winning the Stanford and then went to the sidelines. In her comeback, she set a brisk pace down the hill on the Santa Anita turf course Feb. 2 and finished second.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - No horse comes into the $50,000 Spring Fever at Oaklawn Park on Saturday sharper than Souris. She is seeking her fourth straight victory, following recent scores in the $53,000 Bold Ego at Sunland Park, the $50,000 American Beauty at Oaklawn, and the $60,000 Pan Zareta at Fair Grounds.

It is an impressive resume, and one that will make her a strong favorite against nine other fillies and mares in the 5 1/2-furlong race. Other leading contenders in the race include Forest Music, Saltwater Runner, and Storm Breaking.

Jockey Larry Mejias was arrested Thursday afternoon at Tampa Bay Downs when he was found to have an electrical device in his left palm shortly before he was slated to ride in the third race.

The 39-year-old Mejias, who had ridden four horses at the current meeting with no winners, was searched by Tampa Bay security personnel then was arrested by Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies and charged with cheating and attempting to prearrange the outcome of a horse race, felony charges in the state of Florida.

Stewards would not comment on the matter Thursday afternoon.