Del Mar: Executiveprivilege aimed high in Del Mar Debutante

Benoit & Associates

Executiveprivilege (outside), with Rafael Bejarano riding, follows up her victory in the Landaluce by winning the Sorrento.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Unbeaten and barely tested in three starts, Executiveprivilege will shoot for the richest and most significant win of her brief career on Saturday when she heads the field in the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Debutante for 2-year-old fillies going seven furlongs.

Executiveprivilege defeated maidens at Betfair Hollywood Park first time out, then won the Landaluce there before coming here to win the Sorrento Stakes on Aug. 8. She won the Sorrento by just 1 1/4 lengths, but she was coming back only 25 days after the Landaluce, and had just one work between those starts.

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Heading into the Debutante, trainer Bob Baffert has been more aggressive with Executiveprivilege, who looked sensational in a six-furlong drill on Aug. 20 in 1:12.60, and she came back with an even faster six-furlong work on Sunday, when she was timed in 1:10.80, the best of 13 at the distance that day.

“She’s been training great,” Baffert said.

Her scheduled rivals include Beholder, who was fourth to Executiveprivilege when both made their debuts on June 28 and then returned to defeat maidens here on July 22, as well as Mechaya, a fast winner of her debut here on Aug. 10, and Switch to the Lead, who was third in the Sorrento.

Speedinthruthecity is one of three possibilities for trainer Peter Miller, who also has Miss Empire and Heir Kitty. Miller’s fillies also are nominated to the $100,000 Oak Tree Juvenile Fillies Turf at one mile on Monday. Heir Kitty (48.60 seconds) and Miss Empire (49 seconds) each worked a half-mile at Del Mar on Tuesday morning.

Also Saturday is the $85,000 Harry F. Brubaker Stakes, for older horses at one mile, which will be headed by John Scott and Kettle Corn, both of whom bypassed last Sunday’s Pacific Classic. Also under consideration for the Brubaker are Holladay Road – who worked three furlongs in 35 seconds on Tuesday morning for trainer Julio Canani – as well as Hoorayforhollywood, Midnight Interlude, Spud Spivens, and Tres Borrachos.