Who’s the Champ, Beholder or Executiveprivilege?

How much value should the Eclipse Award voters place on the results of the Breeders’ Cup?

There are no easy answers to the above question, but we may gain a better understanding of how the majority feels on the subject according to how the voting for this year’s 2-year-old Filly Championship goes down. In the one corner you have the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner, Beholder, while in the opposite corner, there is four-time stakes winner, and runner-up on Friday, Executiveprivilege (below). It would seem there could not be a more clear-cut delineation between siding with the Breeders’ Cup winner or the horse that accomplished more during the year, with this pair of young ladies.

If you believe it all comes down to the Breeders’ Cup, then you have to favor Beholder. She defeated her rival in the big one; case closed.

If you believe what happens during the entire year outweighs the result of one race, then you must love Executiveprivilege’s chances. She holds a 4-to-1 stakes wins advantage, and a 2-to-1 head-to-head advantage over Beholder; clearly she had the better overall year.

Of course, it will boil down to personal preference, and then a counting of the votes, to decide this one, but let’s take a look at this decision with a pair of similar historical references.

In 1979 (pre-Breeders’ Cup) the vote came down to the unbeaten Genuine Risk and the prolific Smart Angle. In their only meeting, Genuine Risk (left) won the Demoiselle by a nose in both fillies seasonal finale. Despite winning the showdown, albeit narrowly, and a perfect 4-for-4 record, the Firestone filly was denied an Eclipse Award, as voters sided with the Demoiselle runner-up, who had already won six stakes that year. Smart Angle won the championship, but would it have been different if the Demoiselle had been the BC Juvenile Fillies?

In 1999, Chilukki entered the Breeders’ Cup with a perfect six-for-six record, including five stakes wins. In the Juvenile Fillies, she put her winning streak on the line against a pair of D. Wayne Lukas fillies in Surfside and Cash Run. Surfside was the more highly regarded one, but it was Cash Run who impressively carried the day at Gulfstream Park over Chilukki (2nd) and Surfside (3rd). When it came time to vote on the championship, Chilukki easily reversed the Breeders’ Cup result with a sizable win to nail down the Eclipse Award over the $1.2 million yearling purchase, but winner of a lone stakes race at two.

While these two comparisons relate to this year’s decision, every Eclipse Award vote is like a snowflake; no two are quite the same. Should Executiveprivilege be rewarded for her body of work, including a solid performance when second on Friday, and two previous grade 1 wins, or did the Breeders’ Cup truly establish the better filly? Keep in mind that despite winning only a single stakes score, Beholder was only a scant nose short of Executiveprivilege in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante, before running the biggest speed figure of the division in a romping allowance prep.

It’s an interesting question, and one that I, myself, am currently struggling in finding the correct answer, so … let the debate begin. Who do you think should be the champ, Beholder or Executiveprivilege?