Brill highlights three-win day for Hollendorfer

DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer won three races on Wednesday’s opening-day card at Del Mar, none potentially more significant than that of Brill in the first open 2-year-old filly race of the meet. Brill overcame a rough start and a distance likely short of optimum to prevail first time out going five furlongs.

Brill is by Medaglia d’Oro, inviting obvious parallels to another daughter of Medaglia d’Oro whom Hollendorfer trained to a Del Mar maiden race victory early in the season three years ago. That filly was Songbird, who later in the meet won the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante in her second start, a schedule Hollendorfer said he was likely to mirror with Brill.

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The word was out on Brill, who cost owner Larry Best $1 million at auction as a yearling. She was hammered down to odds-on favoritism against nine rivals and rallied for the win under Drayden Van Dyke.

“She broke so hard she cost herself a little in the beginning, had to go between horses, got outside, and finished well to run them down,” Hollendorfer said. “Very grateful that she won.”

Hollendorfer seems well stocked with 2-year-olds this summer. He has already unleashed a top colt in Instagrand, who won his debut earlier this month at Los Alamitos and is headed to next month’s Best Pal at Del Mar, and on Saturday in race 9 he sends out two colts who have trained well, in particular Rowayton, who, like Instagrand, is a son of Into Mischief. Like Instagrand and Brill, Rowayton is owned by Best’s OXO Equine LLC.