Informed Decision beats Ventura.
DECISION DENIES VENTURA REPEAT
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Julien Leparoux completed a Breeders' Cup day one double as Informed Decision denied Ventura a repeat victory in the Filly & Mare Sprint at Santa Anita on Friday night.
Leparoux had already won the Juvenile Fillies on She Be Wild earlier in the evening and produced a textbook ride to double his tally.
Informed Decision, sent off 3-1, took up the running entering the home stretch with Evens favourite Ventura nearer last than first.
And though the latter finished really well under Garrett Gomez she never really looked like getting to the winner. Free Flying Soul was third at 33-1.
Informed Decision was winning her seventh race on a synthetic surface and Leparoux said afterwards: "She broke very good and had a comfortable race.
"She came back very nice for me in the finish. I know Ventura got a nice kick, but I didn't want her to come too close to me. I got it in the end."
Winning trainer Jonathan Sheppard added: "We have put the blinkers on and she's been great ever since.
"It's nice to have such a nice horse and great to do it for (owner) George Strawbridge - I couldn't do it without him."
Strawbridge said: "It's just exhilarating - plain and simple.
"We (Strawbridge and Sheppard) go back together so long so it's nice to share moments of supreme victory."
Gomez meanwhile said after Ventura's defeat: "Pace makes the race. They were going exceptionally slow up front and there wasn't any one up there to help me. She gave me her usual kick as we started to make our run. She's the kind of filly that you have to time just right. If I ask her too soon, that's not good either. When my filly kicked in, she started to gain on the other one, but she kicked in too and went into a higher gear. I just couldn't catch her."
Humberto Ascanio, assistant to Ventura's trainer Bobby Frankel, added: "The pace was a killer. She had too much to do at the end."
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