Queen Maxima reigns supreme in the Monrovia (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif. — Queen Maxima made short work of her rivals Saturday when going gate to wire under Juan Hernandez to earn her fourth-straight win in Saturday’s Grade III, $100,000 Monrovia Stakes presented by Don Julio for older fillies and mares sprinting about 6 ½ furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita.
Trained by Jeff Mullins, Queen Maxima broke in front, clicked off fractions of 22.58, 44.89 and 1:07.15 for six furlongs and drew away to score by 4 ¼ lengths. Eastern invader Queen of the Mud (9-2), ridden by Umberto Rispoli for trainer Graham Motion, finished second by a neck over Venganza (11-1). It was another head back to Ang N Ash (22-1) in fourth.
“As soon as the gate opened, she was trying to take the lead,” Hernandez said. “So I just let her be free and she took it until the wire. I didn’t do much today with her. She was doing everything on her own. She just keeps getting better.”
For Hernandez, this was his third stakes win on the card. He also scored in the GII Santa Anita Oaks with Tenma for trainer Bob Baffert and the Echo Eddie aboard Style Cat for trainer Peter Miller.
Queen Maxima won in a time of 1:12.93 over firm turf. A 4-year-old filly by Bucchero, Queen Maxima improved to 8: 5-2-0 with $270,900 in earnings for owners Dutch Girl Holding LLC and Irving Ventures LLC.
“I can’t say that she has surprised me,” Mullins said. “She has kind of lived up to our expectations and I’m not sure that we have seen the most of her yet.”
Previously on Feb. 22 at Santa Anita, Queen Maxima earned her first stakes win in the restricted Wishing Well Stakes going six furlongs on the flat turf course. That effort followed a pair of allowance wins sprinting on turf at Santa Anita.
“We do want to experiment with two turns again eventually and maybe even dirt,” Mullins said. “That is a ways down the road but she is a pure athlete. As long as her feed tub is empty every morning and she is sleeping good, we have a good chance.”
Queen Maxima paid $2.40, $2.10 and $2.10. Queen of the Mud returned $3.00 and $2.10. Venganza, ridden by Kazushi Kimura for trainer Richard Mandella, paid $2.20.
