Queen Maxima rolls to Wishing Well win as Mullins contemplates her future

ARCADIA, Calif. - Queen Maxima is an accomplished turf sprinter, a point the 4-year-old filly emphasized with an easy win as the odds-on favorite in Saturday’s $100,500 Wishing Well Stakes at Santa Anita.

From the perspective of trainer Jeff Mullins, Queen Maxima may develop into much more.

“I still think she’ll go long,” he said in a brief conversation in the winner’s circle. “I think she’ll [run well on] dirt.”

There will be ample chances to prove those points in time. For now, Queen Maxima is thriving in turf sprints.

The Wishing Well Stakes was Queen Maxima’s third consecutive win of the current Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, preceded by an allowance race at six furlongs on Dec. 29 and an allowance race at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course on Jan 23. Juan Hernandez has been aboard for the three wins.

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In those allowance races, and the Wishing Well Stakes, Queen Maxima tracked the pace before taking the lead. In the Wishing Well Stakes at six furlongs on turf, Queen Maxima was third early, following pacesetter Ma Rae’s Girl, who set an early pace of 22.22 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 44.73 for a half-mile.

Hernandez moved Queen Maxima into a three-wide position in the stretch and caught 39-1 Ma Rae’s Girl in the final furlong. Queen Maxima ($2.60) pulled clear to win by 3 1/2 lengths, finishing in 1:07.81. Queen Maxima earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 91.

Laulne (6-1) closed from fifth to finish third, followed by Stay and Scam, Miss Roberts, and Arctic Breeze. The Wishing Well was restricted to fillies and mares who had not won a graded stakes since Aug. 1, 2024.

Queen Maxima, a 4-year-old filly by Bucchero, has won 4 of 7 starts and earned $310,900 in a career that began in August. Owned by Dutch Girl Holdings and Irving Ventures, Queen Maxima won her debut in a maiden race at five furlongs on turf at Del Mar last August and was last of 10 in an allowance race at a mile three weeks later, her only start at the distance.

“I ran her back at Del Mar too quick and she pulled the whole way,” Mullins said of the loss in the one-mile race. “I don’t like to look at that race.”

Queen Maxima has not been worse than second in five subsequent starts, including a second in the Unzip Me Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the hillside turf course in September.

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