In a race in which the top two mares in the $581,713 Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1T) did not deserve to lose based on their effort, neither of them ultimately did.
Expensive Queen and Segesta finished on even terms as dead-heat winners in the 1 1/16-mile turf race at Keeneland. Both horses broke sharply, but ultimately sat off pacesetter Aussie Girl, who set fractions of :23.10, :47.46, and 1:11.48. Segesta traveled in second to her outside, with Expensive Queen in third along the rail. As they hit the stretch, Segesta grabbed the lead, but Expensive Queen and Medoro, took chase. Segesta dug in as Expensive Queen kept coming on the rail and they hit the wire together, unable to be separated. Medoro finished three-quarters of a length back in third. The winning duo was clocked in 1:40.98 for the distance.
Luis Saez rode Expensive Queen, a 5-year-old mare by Lope de Vega bred in Ireland by Fermoir, for owner Farfellow Farms and trainer Brendan Walsh.
"I was riding her pretty hard and she was giving me a good turn of foot. We found the rail and she made a huge move," Saez said. "I thought we were going to run on by, but the other filly (Segesta)—she's a pretty good filly and she came back—so that's why we get the (dead) heat. I'm pretty excited about the way our filly ran."
"Most of her races since she's come here, she's come outside and been more comfortable with it." Walsh said. "They were down there (on the rail) nice and tight, but credit to Luis, he kept after her and she responded to him, and we're quite happy with the result."
Flavien Prat was aboard Juddmonte's homebred Segesta, a 5-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper, whose win provided trainer Chad Brown with an eighth victory in the Jenny Wiley over the last 12 years.
"When I saw it on the replay, I turned around and said, 'I'll take a dead heat there.' I meant I thought we were maybe out-nosed, and then when it flashed up on the screen and it came up 1-10, I turned around and went, 'Argh—we got beat' and then everyone said, 'No, it's a dead heat.' So it's up-and-down emotions," Juddmonte's Garrett O'Rourke said. "I'm delighted for the filly. She's very deserving of it and had come so close in grade 1s for so long. Straight out credit to Chad (Brown) for having her so ready to do this today. So very rewarding."
Payoffs were reduced owing to two horses sharing the win spot. Expensive Queen paid $3.46 for a $2 win wager, and Segesta returned $2.84.
This is just the second time in Keeneland's history there has been a dead heat in a grade 1 stakes race, the first time being in the 2014 Ashland Stakes (G1) when Room Service and Rosalind were inseparable at the wire. The Jenny Wiley is just the sixth stakes race ever to be run at Keeneland to see two horses in the winner's circle.
