Queen Maxima

Three of this week's six fastest ran at Laurel on the Preakness weekend undercard. 6 - BENEDETTA, LRL, 5/16, Skipat Stakes R4, 6 furlongs (video) Beyer Speed Figure- 90 (2nd) (m, 5, by City of Light--Tessie Flip, by Grand Slam) O-Kaleem Shah Inc. B-Springhouse Farm & Dromoland Farm (Ky). T-Steve Asmussen. J-Jose Ortiz. Benedetta hasn't earned back her $750,000 2-year-old purchase price, but this runnerup finish puts her at $645,550. Her residual value is boosted by placings in the GIII Winning Colors and GIII Sorrento, but she has mostly been...

Saturday's Mizdirection Stakes victress Queen Maxima (Bucchero) will head to Kingfisher Farms in California for a layoff after collecting her sixth stakes win this past weekend, trainer Jeff Mullins announced Sunday. Earning a 95 Beyer for her Mizdirection performance, Queen Maxima broke a two-race losing streak that started back in April when running fourth in the May 1 GII Unbridled Sidney Stakes at Churchill Downs and third in the GIII Monrovia at Santa Anita. Before that, she'd strung together successive victories in last October in the Senator Ken Maddy Stakes...

If bloodstock agent Mike Pender feels the urge to pinch himself from time to time, it would be hard to hold that against him. Having trained the likes of Grade I winners Jeranimo and Ultimate Eagle for his late client B. J. Wright in a career that lasted 15 years, Pender is now very much focused on the bloodstock side of the game, and his two current success stories--the three-time graded-stakes winning turf sprinter Queen Maxima (Bucchero) and Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Intrepido (Maximus Mischief)--are doing...

Every week in the TDN, we have been running the five fastest maidens as judged by the Beyer Speed Figure. An astute reader suggested that since all breeders like fast fillies, we should have a look and see who the five fastest fillies of the week are each week. Here you go. 5. GRATEFULLY, SA, 1/8-5th, Alw, 6 furlongs (turf) Beyer Speed Figure-91 (f, 4, by Laoban--Selflessly, by More Than Ready) O- Adelphi Racing Club and Shelly & Russell Hume. B-WinStar Farm (Ky). T-Robert Falcone. J-Umberto Rispoli. In her '26...

Heavily favored Queen Maxima added a third graded stakes to her resume and continued her dominance of the downhill turf course at Santa Anita with a professional victory in the GIII Las Cienegas Stakes Sunday. The chestnut mare, now a winner of eight of 13 lifetime starts--and five of six at Santa Anita--broke alertly and took up a stalking position in second behind pacesetting Princesa Moche. The duo remained one-two until turning into the stretch and passing the dirt crossing when Queen Maxima surged ahead, ultimately beating that stubborn rival...

Connections had Queen Maxima (Bucchero) under serious consideration for another start against the boys in Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, but instead opted for Friday's sex-restricted $200,000 Listed Senator Ken Maddy Stakes over those same five furlongs. Firming into 7-5 favoritism in the final tick or two, the dual graded winner made that decision look good when racing over the top of her rivals to post a soft victory while snapping a baby two-race skid. Having found trouble when 2 3/4 lengths' sixth as the favorite in the one-mile...

Edited Press Release Ironhorse Stallions's Bucchero (by Kantharos--Meetmeontime, by General Meeting), the sire of MGISW Book'em Danno, will stand the 2026 breeding season for $12,500, with an early-bird discount available through Dec. 31 for mares foaling in New York and a breeder-friendly mare cap of 140, the farm said in a release on Saturday morning. With the fewest named foals of the top 15 fourth-crop sires, Bucchero continues to distinguish himself among the elite of his generation. Competing alongside comparable rising stars such as Girvin (by Tale of Ekati) who...

When 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) went wire-to-wire to take out the 2023 GI Pacific Classic, it made trainer Bob Baffert the winningest trainer in the relatively short history of the event with seven winners, surpassing the late Bobby Frankel. The Hall of Fame conditioner will have every chance to extend that record when he sends out fellow 'Rising Star' Nysos (Nyquist) in a compelling renewal of the 10-furlong feature Saturday afternoon, with an all-expenses-paid trip to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic over the same course and distance...

After being a frequent face in the graded ranks since last April, class relief in the Listed Osunitas Stakes at Del Mar provided Medoro (Honor Code) with her moment in the sun as she rolled by runners late to score. Twice placed at the elite level, the Honor Code filly was last seen Dec. 25 in the GI American Oaks where she ran third behind MGISW She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}) and GISP Kathrynmarissa (American Pharoah). Before that she'd missed winning Santa Anita's GIII Autumn Miss Stakes by a nose...

GI Kentucky Derby third-place runner Baeza (McKinzie) returned to the work tab Friday at Santa Anita with an easy four-furlong drill in :53.60 (43/43) for trainer John Shirreffs. He was joined on the tab by fellow 3-year-old Barnes (Into Mischief) who also worked four furlongs (:48.00 {6/43}) for the first time since finishing last of five in the GI Santa Anita Derby April 5 for trainer Bob Baffert. After choosing to skip Saturday's GI Preakness Stakes, Baeza is slated to start next in the GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga June...

A total of 772 2-year-olds in training and additional horses of racing age have been catalogued for the OBS June Sale, newly consolidated over the course of two sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 17 and 18 beginning each day at 10 a.m. ET. Five under-track previews are scheduled between June 10 and 14, with a start time of 7:30 a.m. ET The opening day of the sale will see hips 1-386 plus supplemental entries go under the hammer with the session on June 18 encompassing hips 451-833, along with...

Queen Maxima (Bucchero) is a 'princess' in the barn but a 'tiger' on the track in the estimation of trainer Jeff Mullins, who registered his first graded-stakes victory beyond the borders of California since 2017 when the Florida-bred 4-year-old filly overwhelmed her rivals in Friday's GIII Unbridled Sidney Stakes at Churchill Downs. The final time of 1:01.29 establishes a new course record, despite significant rainfall that resulted in a downgrade of the turf from firm to good for the 5 1/2-furlong dash. A filly speedy enough to make the running,...