Keeneland announced Sept. 25 that grade 1 winner Expensive Queen, who captured the April 11 Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland, has been entered in Book 1 of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale Nov. 3. Taylor Made Sales Agency will consign the 5-year-old daughter of leading international sire Lope de Vega as a racing or broodmare prospect.
Expensive Queen has established herself among the top turf females in North America during a career highlighted by four wins from five United States starts to date. Undefeated in 2026, she earned a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure and tied a career-high 103 Equibase Speed Figure in the Jenny Wiley. She is nominated to the $800,000 First Lady Stakes (G1T) Oct. 3 at Keeneland.
The well-traveled Expensive Queen has won at Gulfstream Park, Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, and Keeneland for trainer Brendan Walsh and owner Farfellow Farms. At Fair Grounds, she kicked clear to win the Albert M. Stall Memorial Stakes by 2 1/4 lengths and set a stakes record. She made her next start in the Jenny Wiley, the premier turf race for distaffers at Keeneland's spring meet. Expensive Queen joined Segesta inside the sixteenth pole to set up a duel to the finish. The result was a dead-heat victory.
Expensive Queen's sire, Lope de Vega, who stood the 2026 season at Ballylinch Stud in Ireland for €200,000, has established himself as one of the world's leading international sires. The classic-winning son of Shamardal has sired 27 group/grade 1 winners and 172 stakes winners, with elite performers across major racing jurisdictions. His influence is also accelerating as a broodmare sire. In 2026, daughters of Lope de Vega produced Irish Derby (G1) winner Benvenuto Cellini and International Stakes (G1) winner Item.
"She is as close to a perfect physical as you could ask for in a mare of this caliber," Taylor Made Sales Agency president and CEO Mark Taylor said. "She has exceptional balance and quality, plenty of substance, a strong hip and an athletic walk, and she carries herself with the presence you expect from a Grade 1 winner. When you combine that physical with her race record, her international female family and the momentum Lope de Vega is building as a broodmare sire, she has all the ingredients to become a high-end producer. At the same time, she remains a legitimate racing prospect for a buyer who wants to continue with her."
Expensive Queen represents a distinguished international female family. She is a full sister to multiple group 3 winner Antonia de Vega, group-placed Al Haarith, and stakes-placed Luckin Brew. Her dam, the stakes-placed Witches Brew, by Duke of Marmalade, is a half sister to 2017 Prix Jacque Le Marois (G1) winner Al Wukair.
"Expensive Queen's journey captures so much of what Keeneland represents," Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said. "She made her North American debut a winner here, returned to become a Grade 1 winner in the Jenny Wiley and now comes back to Keeneland November for the next chapter of her career. That connection between racing and sales is at the heart of Keeneland, and we are incredibly proud to have the opportunity to showcase a mare of her caliber to buyers from around the world."
