Thistledown: Bad is good

NORTH RANDALL, Ohio ? Bad Little Fellow saved ground under Andrew Ramgeet, got through along the rail to engage his pacesetting stablemate Truth Matters at eighth pole, and outfinished him to win the $100,000 Cleveland Gold Cup by a half-length here Thursday. Dinkers Millennium closed a gap through the stretch to finish third, three-quarters of a length in front of fourth-place finisher Mary's Lord. Eight Ohio-breds ran in the 1 1/8-mile race.

Bad Little Fellow, a son of Lost Soldier, got the nine furlongs in 1:54.24 over the fast racing strip. Considered the lesser half of the entry, he returned $7.80.

The winner and runnerup are owned and were bred by Darrell R. Sapp and trained by Jerry Sparks.