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Behaving Badly narrowly gets up for Genuine Risk win Hal and Patti Earnhardt's BEHAVING BADLY (Pioneering) didn't display her usual form in Monday's $143,200 Genuine Risk Breeders' Cup H. (G2) at Belmont Park, but the results were still the same. Originally expected to spring to the early lead, the Bob Baffert trainee dropped back to third in the four-horse field under jockey Garrett Gomez as Stormy Kiss (Arg) (Bernstein) clocked opening fractions of :22 2/5 and :45 2/5. Gomez took his mount wide on the turn, where the five-year-old began to make up ground, and she took the lead after straightening up in the lane. The 1-5 favorite was a half-length ahead of a fast-finishing Swap Fliparoo (Exchange Rate) at the wire, stopping the clock in 1:09 4/5 for six furlongs over a fast track. "She sat off the pace before," Gomez said. "It looks like she is always on the lead, but she sat off a bit. She is very tractable. She's a pure class filly who does everything right. My job is to make her most comfortable. When I found those other two (Stormy Kiss and Khalila [Elusive Quality]) had out-footed her a little bit, I asked her to pick it up a little bit. She wasn't real happy, so I let her re-coup herself and took her outside for a clear run." Behaving Badly gave back $2.50 and $2.10 while leading the $7.30 exacta (1-4). Swap Fliparoo, who rated in fourth through the early going before rallying strongly late, paid $3.20 at 6-1. There was no show wagering. Stormy Kiss and Khalila rounded out the order of finish. "It was an exciting race and she's a beautiful mare," Baffert said via telephone from California. "I'm going to see how she comes out of it before we find a spot. She loves Del Mar." Bred in New York by Thomas/Lakin, Behaving Badly is out of the unraced mare Timeleighness (Sir Raleigh) and counts herself as a half-sister to stakes winner Lavish Numbers (Polish Numbers) as well as an unraced two-year-old colt named Scenic Route (Precise End). Purchased for $150,000 at the 2003 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, Behaving Badly improved her mark to 11-8-2-0 with $614,224 in earnings. This was her fifth black-type victory. Earlier this year, she annexed the Santa Monica H. (G1) and finished second in the Humana Distaff H. (G1) in her last appearance.
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