Miss Behaviour may be right value play in Miss Preakness

BALTIMORE – Laurel Park-based Miss Behaviour was one of the better 2-year-old fillies in the region during 2013, and at anything close to her 8-1 morning-line odds, she is an attractive play in the $100,000 Miss Preakness Stakes, a six-furlong main-track dash for 3-year-old fillies on the Black-Eyed Susan undercard Friday at Pimlico.

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Miss Behaviour easily won her first three starts last year, a string capped by a one-length victory over good fillies Sweet Whiskey and Gracer in the Grade 2 Matron Stales at Belmont. Three defeats have followed, but all came with plausible excuses.

In the Sharp Cat Stakes last October at Belmont, Miss Behaviour was done in by a crazily slow pace, and she did well to rally for a close second. Miss Behaviour might not have handled the half-sized racing oval at Delta Downs or the one-mile distance of the Delta Princess, in which she finished fifth in her 2-year-old finale. And finally, Miss Behaviour’s third-place finish here April 19 in the $100,000 Stormy Blue has the scent of a pure prep for Friday’s appearance. The Stormy Blue was a turf race, Miss Behaviour appears to be a dirt horse, and the filly has since turned in two sharp works for trainer Phil Schoenthal.

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Miss Behaviour, with Sheldon Russell named to ride, drew post 4, inside her primary rivals. They appear to be Tea Time, the filly who set the slow splits and beat Miss Behaviour in the Sharp Cat; Tepin, who makes her first start since winning the Delta Princess; and Jojo Warrior, who is sure to be heavily bet given her popular connections, trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Rosie Napravnik.