Racing for the Eclipse: Beholder vs. Executiveprivilege

The issue arises every year….which is most important? A win in the Breeders' Cup, or a complete and dominant season? Voters will be asked to make a decision on that very question when voting for Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.

 

Beholder and Executiveprivilege are both outstanding fillies in their own right, but I cannot recall a time where there was ever a tie for an Eclipse Award title. Beholder, beaten twice by Executiveprivilege, got the better of her rival on racing’s biggest day, the Breeders' Cup. She was aided by a strong speed bias as she was able to hold her ground, by one length, as they hit the wire.

 

Those who support her will look at that outcome and use it to say she should get the Eclipse Award, but they forget that she lost twice this season, and that both of those losses came at the hands of Executiveprivilege. They also forget that before the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies that Beholder’s highest level win came in an allowance race.

 

Executiveprivilege has been the picture of consistency during her career. She won her maiden before immediately jumping into stakes competition. She dominated in both the Landaluce Stake and Sorrento Stakes, before meeting Beholder again in her grade one debut, the Del Mar Debutante. She got the better of her rival by a nose, before scoring her second grade one in the Chandelier Stakes impressively. In her last race, as mentioned, she ran second to Beholder, but beaten only a length.

 

When all is said and done, Executiveprivilege has five stakes wins, two of which were grade one. Beholder has but one stake win, but alas it is a coveted Breeders' Cup win. As it stands now, who should take home the Eclipse? Executiveprivilege has the most impressive overall season and the edge in the head to head match-ups. But, was Beholder’s lone victory in the Breeders' Cup really enough to overtake her rival in the Eclipse Award?