Coming off a dead-heat victory in the Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland, Segesta will look to be the clear-cut winner in the 1-mile Just a Game Stakes (G1T) June 6 at Saratoga Race Course.
In her first start as a 5-year-old, the daughter of Ghostzapper hit the wire in the Jenny Wiley with Expensive Queen. Unable to separate them at the line, they both were awarded the grade 1 victory. Trained by Chad Brown and owned and bred by Juddmonte, Segesta completed her 4-year-old season by scoring in the Matriarch Stakes (G1T) at Del Mar, also at a mile, a distance at which she has a 2-3-0 record in six starts. At odds of 7-5, she will break from post 3 under jockey Flavien Prat as the morning-line favorite, and looks to improve off her disappointing sixth in last year's running.
"She was off a layoff and dead-heated for the win last time," Brown said. "She got a good run out of it, and she should move forward, fitness-wise. I didn't have her fully cranked."
Segesta is out of the First Defence mare, Antonoe. Also campaigned by Brown and Juddmonte, Antonoe won the 2017 running of the Just a Game Stakes.
Segesta will face seven, including the French traveler Mandanaba, who is making her first start in the United States for trainer Francis-Henri Graffard and owner His Highness the Aga Khan's Studs. The 5-year-old daughter of Ghaiyyath is coming into the race off a victory in the Prix Maurice Zilber at ParisLongchamp.
"She's a filly who likes good, fast ground," said Nemone Routh, director and French racing manager for Aga Khan Studs. "She normally breaks well and likes to be forward, enjoying a fast pace. We have always thought she was a good fit for American racing. In France, you tend to have to have a big acceleration, but she is one with more of a high cruising speed and can just keep going at that pace. She's a really game and genuine filly."
At odds of 9-2, she is the third choice on the morning line.
Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse and owners Gary Barber, Blue Crevalle Racing, and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners enter Classic Q in hopes of back-to-back victories. The 4-year-old daughter of Classic Empire comes into the Just a Game off a win in the May 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes (G2T).
"Johnny (Velazquez) rode a great race on her (in the Distaff Turf Mile)," Casse said. "She was coming down the stretch waiting and looking for Lush Lips (who defeated her in two graded stakes), but luckily she wasn't there. She's seen that filly too many times. It was a great effort and a great ride. She always tries really hard. We know she likes Saratoga."
Classic Q will break from post position 1 under jockey John Velazquez at odds of 6-1.
Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, June 6, 2026, Race 7Entries: Just a Game S. Presented by Resolute Racing (G1T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Classic Q (KY) John R. Velazquez 122 Mark E. Casse 6/1 2 2Sandtrap (IRE) Manuel Franco 120 Chad C. Brown 3/1 3 3Segesta (KY) Flavien Prat 124 Chad C. Brown 7/5 4 4Mandanaba (FR) Clement Lecoeuvre 122 Francis - Henri Graffard 9/2 5 5And One More Time (KY) Javier Castellano 120 Mark E. Casse 8/1 6 6Fast Market (KY) Dylan Davis 122 John P. Terranova II 20/1 7 7Buttercream Babe (KY) Luis Saez 120 George R. Arnold II 15/1 8 8Deep Satin (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 120 Cherie DeVaux 12/1
