Executiveprivilege wins thrilling renewal of Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante

Executiveprivilege (#8) edges Beholder in the Debutante

Executiveprivilege showed her determination in the $300,000 Del Mar Debutante (G1), overcoming a four-wide trip for entire seven furlongs to get the lead on the last jump. The photo finish with Beholder took several minutes to decide after the pair hit the wire on nearly even terms.

For her trainer Bob Baffert, Executiveprivilege provided him his 101st stakes win and 22nd Grade 1 win at Del Mar. Baffert has now won the Debutante seven times, most recently in 2006 with Point Ashley.

Executiveprivilege looked like she was going to have a tough time of it right from the start. With three rivals to her inside, Rafael Bejarano had no choice but to stay in the middle of the track down the backstretch. She continued well off the rail on the turn, but still was closing on the leaders. Although Beholder got away by a couple of lengths in mid-stretch, Executiveprivilege was gaining with every step, and under intense pressure, hit the wire in front.

“She ran hard, very hard. She’s a good filly and she did her best today,” said Bejarano. “I thought that filly on the lead (Beholder) was going to come back to us. I didn’t think she’d hold on like that. She changed leads when we were going out and she just kept going. But she got there. I thought I’d won it. I knew it was close, but I thought I’d won it.”

“Turning for home I saw (Beholder) had a really good lead and I thought (Executiveprivilege) had her work cut out for her. She really had to dig down,” said Baffert. “I wasn’t sure (about the photo finish). She was so far (outside), she just lost focus on that other horse. I wasn’t sure, but I really thought she didn’t get up in time. I’m just grateful that we got the photo.

“My wife Jill is really pretty good at that (judging finishes) and she said, ‘We got beat.’ I’m glad she was wrong for the first time in 1,000.”

Executiveprivilege, a daughter of First Samurai, was purchased for $650,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sale of 2-year-olds in training in April by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman. The filly won her third stakes, and first in a Grade I event, previously having taken the Landaluce S. at Hollywood Park and the Sorrento S. (G3) three weeks ago at Del Mar. She is now a perfect 4-0-0 with $390,000 in earnings.