Informed Decision may revisit Chicago

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Arlington Park fans were treated to an appearance by champion Informed Decision last summer, and if the filly continues to hold good health, she has been penciled in for another trip to Chicago.

Since finishing third in a pair of Grade 1 races during April in

Kentucky, Informed Decision has posted bullet workouts on May 14 (half-mile in 47.20 seconds) and May 21 (five furlongs in 58.80) at Presque Isle Downs in western Pennsylvania, but trainer Jonathan Sheppard said the quick works weren't suggestive of an imminent race.

"Nothing special, just maintenance works, but she works fast, and it's a fast track out there in the morning," Sheppard said. "We weren't asking her for anything much."

Sheppard said there's been talk of an upcoming Presque Isle allowance race that might suit Informed

Decision, but the main near-term goal for the 2009 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner is a trip back to Arlington for the July 4

Chicago Handicap, a race Informed Decision easily won last summer.

The Chicago Handicap is a mere Grade 3 with a $150,000 purse, but at seven furlongs on Polytrack, the race is made to order for Informed Decision, and it provides a bridge between the early spring portion of her campaign and important races later in the year. Sheppard said he and owner George Strawbridge intend to follow the same path with Informed Decision as in 2009, when she went from the Chicago

Handicap to the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga, then on to the

Masters Stakes at Presque Isle, the Thoroughbred Club of America at Keeneland, and the Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, this year on Churchill's dirt track.

Sheppard also has made plans for his two middle-distance turf fillies: Rainbow View is headed to the

Nassau at Woodbine, while Fantasia will start in the Just a Game on the Belmont Stakes undercard.