In only her third career start, Patti and Hal Earnhardt III’s BEHAVING BADLY
(Pioneering) captured the $150,000
Rancho Bernardo H. (G3) at Del Mar on Friday. Settling just of the pace
behind Dee Dee’s Diner (Bold Badgett) in the early going, jockey Victor Espinoza
kept Behaving Badly in second through a quarter-mile in :21 4/5. The
four-year-old filly began her move entering the second turn, trailing by three
lengths after four furlongs in :44 1/5. The pair battled head-to-head in
upper stretch, with the Bob Baffert trainee pulling away in the
final strides to take the 6 1/2-furlong event in 1:15 1/5.
Behaving Badly left the gate as the 9-5 favorite to return $5.80, $3.60 and
$3, finishing 1 1/4 lengths ahead of a rapidly charging Freakin Streakin (Tactical Advantage)
who grabbed the second spot to give back $6 and $4.80 at 5-1, completing the
$15.80 exacta ($1). Dee Dee’s Diner settled for the show spot another length
back, paying $5 at 10-1 and rounding out the $98.90 trifecta ($1). Mini Skirt
(Wild Again) ended the 4-1-8-3, $451.70 superfecta ($1) and was followed by Rinky
Dink (Aus) (Distorted Humor), Puxa Saco (Dehere), Resplendency (Tale of the Cat)
and Ninadivina (Cape Town).
The winning filly was bred in New York by Thomas/Lakin and is out of the
unraced Timeleighness (Sir Raleigh). She counts herself as a half-sister to the
stakes-winning Lavish Numbers (Polish Numbers) and an unnamed yearling colt by
Precise End. Behaving Badly keeps an unbeated record intact and now shows a line
of 3-3-0-0 with earnings of $153,000. She was purchased by her connections for
$150,000 at the 2003 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale. This
was her first stakes attempt.