High-priced Brill a hit in her debut

Brill was a seven-figure purchase as a yearling last summer, and indicated that she is prepared to live up to high expectations with an impressive debut victory on opening day at Del Mar.

Despite bobbling at the start and coming wide into the stretch, the Medaglia d’Oro filly scored a handy 1 1/4-length victory for owner Larry Best’s OXO Equine and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Brill was awarded a Beyer Speed Figure of 88, matching Instagrand’s top number for a juvenile thus far this season.

Brill, who is the first foal out of the stakes-winning Malibu Moon mare Hung the Moon, sold for $1 million to Best at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling sale. That matched the top price ever for a filly at the sale, joining Al Bayan, a Northern Dancer filly who sold to H.T. Jones for $1 million in 1982. The filly was the most expensive yearling sold at the July sale since 2006, when the Forestry colt Participate sold to Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum for $1.2 million.