A luxury dead heat at Keeneland: Expensive Queen and Segesta share the spoils in the Jenny Wiley
- Turf Diario
- Apr 13
- 2 min read
In an electrifying finish, both mares hit the wire in unison in the G1T event on the lawn, marking a historic conclusion that rewarded two exceptional performances
LEXINGTON, KY (Special to Turf Diario)— Some races are designed to crown a single champion, while others, on rare occasions, deliver justice to two. The $600,000 Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1) at Keeneland provided one of those unforgettable moments on Saturday, resulting in a dead heat between Expensive Queen and Segesta after a finish that proved impossible to separate.
Contested over 1,700 meters on the turf, the race unfolded behind the pacesetting Aussie Girl (Starspangledbanner), who clicked off fractions of :23.10, :47.46, and 1:11.48. Segesta tracked closely in second, while Expensive Queen bided her time in third, tucked away along the rail.
The drama peaked in the stretch as Segesta surged to the lead with authority, only to be met by a surging Expensive Queen, who found a seam along the inside. The pair engaged in a vibrant, head-to-head duel to the wire, stopping the clock in 1:40.98. Even the high-speed finish-line cameras could not find a margin between them. Medoro finished a gallant third, just three-quarters of a length back.
For the Irish-bred Expensive Queen (Lope de Vega), the result marked a definitive arrival at the elite level. Ridden by Luis Saez for trainer Brendan Walsh, she displayed a formidable turn of foot. "She responded with a great change of pace. I thought we might go right by, but the other mare fought back," Saez noted.
On the other side of the ledger, Segesta—a Juddmonte homebred by Ghostzapper—handed trainer Chad Brown his eighth Jenny Wiley victory in the last 12 years. "I thought we lost by a nose, then I thought we won... and finally they told us it was a dead heat. It was a rollercoaster," said Juddmonte’s Garrett O’Rourke.
The result is statistically historic, marking only the second dead heat in a Grade 1 in Keeneland’s storied history, following the 2014 Ashland Stakes. On an afternoon where the margins are usually razor-thin, the turf decided that neither Expensive Queen nor Segesta deserved to lose.
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