Earns First Stakes Win in Fifth Start in 3YO Filly Turf Test

BALTIMORE – Fergus Galvin’s Play With Fire, cutting back to the shortest run of her five-race career, came bounding off the far turn on the outside and turned away a bid from Pretty Lavish in mid-stretch to win Saturday’s $125,000 Hilltop presented by Hallway Feeds to benefit the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance by a length at Pimlico Race Course.

The 53rd running of the Hilltop for 3-year-old fillies going one mile on the grass was the second of six stakes, three graded, worth $1.05 million in purses on a spectacular 14-race Black-Eyed Susan (G2) Day program headlined by the 101st edition of the 1 1/8-mile fixture for 3-year-old fillies.

Play With Fire ($9) was winless in three starts this year after graduating in her unveiling last November on the grass at Fair Grounds. Each of her previous races came at 1 1/16 miles, the most recent a fourth in an open April 11 allowance on the Keeneland turf.

Ridden by Flavien Prat, who won the 2023 Hilltop aboard Aspray, Play With Fire was unhurried in the early going racing at the back of an eight-horse field as 2-1 favorite Me Governor led the way after a quarter-mile in 24.34 seconds and a half in 49.43. Prat angled the daughter of Oscar Performance to the outside approaching the stretch and they swept past the group to take the lead in mid-stretch and continue to the wire.

Pretty Lavish was second, followed by Princess Attitude, Sigh No More, Obeissante, Me Governor, White Rocks and Pure Majestic. Stakes winner Complexity Jane was scratched after getting loose in the post parade.

The Hilltop is a shortened version of Pimilco’s long-standing nickname, Old Hilltop, in recognition of a large infield hill once prominent for viewing races. The hill was leveled in 1938.

$125,000 Hilltop Stakes Quotes

Winning Trainer Brendan Walsh (Play With Fire) -- “She ran very well. A really nice run. She’s progressed a lot and ran a nice race.”

(Note: Walsh was considering a stake at Horseshoe Indianapolis, but it came off the grass and they ran at Pimlico.).

Winning Jockey Flavien Prat (Play With Fire) -- “She broke good, settled down nice, traveled well and was very comfortable throughout. She showed a very good turn of foot turning for home."