ARCADIA, Calif. — Life got sweeter for Life Is Sweet without her daunting stablemate Zenyatta in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic. After fruitlessly chasing the undefeated mare in three previous races, Life Is Sweet found the winner's circle.

Garrett Gomez guided her from last — more than 17 lengths behind — to a 2 1/2-length victory in Friday's $2 million race at Santa Anita. Life Is Sweet was one of four long shots to win on the opening day of the 26th annual world championships.

"It was exhilarating," co-owner Marty Wygod said.

The 4-year-old filly shares the barn of defending champion Zenyatta, who stayed in her stall resting ahead of today's $5 million Classic against the boys. She will put her 13-0 record on the line in the 1 1/4-mile race, the richest in North America.

Both horses are trained by John Shirreffs for different owners.

"I was glad she was able to get it done today," Shirreffs said. "She really deserves this. She had been coming into this race really great."

Life Is Sweet ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.58 and paid $18.20, $8 and $5 at 8-1 odds.

Mushka returned $12.80 and $6.40, while Music Note was another length back in third for the second consecutive year and paid $3.20 to show. Careless Jewel, the 9-5 wagering favorite, romped to an early nine-length lead before fading to last in the field of eight. Cocoa Beach, second last year, was sixth.

"She locked onto the bridle and went as far as she could as fast as she could. That's not her," said Robert Landry, who rode Careless Jewel. "It's disappointing because she's a much better filly than she showed."

American horses won four of the day's six races, with jockey Julien Leparoux riding two winners on a day that went off without incident to horses or riders.

It was the second consecutive Breeders' Cup to be run on Santa Anita's synthetic Pro-Ride surface, which kept stellar filly Rachel Alexandra away. She was eight for eight this year, including three wins over male horses, one of them in the Preakness. But her owner, Jess Jackson, doesn't like synthetics, so he idled the Horse of the Year favorite.

Life Is Sweet had lost to Zenyatta in three of her previous four races. She improved to four for five this year in races where Zenyatta wasn't running, with her only loss to males in the Hollywood Gold Cup.

"If you have to be overshadowed by something, that is the right mare to be overshadowed by," Wygod said. "She's a great, great mare."

Life Is Sweet went from last midway through the final turn to the front with a run on the far outside. She overcame getting pinched out of the starting gate.

"I'm glad she picked today to show up," Gomez said. "When you run some tough races like she did, it will take something out of you. I'm glad they were able to get her confidence back and have her prepared."

Man of Iron opened the card with a thrilling nose victory over 9-year-old gelding Cloudy's Knight in the $500,000 Marathon, the day's only race featuring males.

Man of Iron covered 1 3/4 miles in 2:54.11 under John Murtagh, giving Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien his fourth career Breeders' Cup victory. The 3-year-old paid $14.80 to win in his U.S. debut after running exclusively in Europe.

Midday gave Europe its other victory, winning the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf by a length and snapping an 0-for-six streak in the Breeders' Cup by veteran European trainer Henry Cecil.