Queen Maxima has been perfect in three starts at the current winter-spring meeting at Santa Anita, a record expected to continue in Saturday’s Grade 3 Monrovia Stakes for fillies and mares at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course. “She hasn’t done much wrong,” trainer Jeff Mullins said Thursday. “She just a good horse.” A 4-year-old filly, Queen Maxima has won 4 of 7 starts, with all the wins in turf sprints since August at Del Mar. On Feb. 22, Queen Maxima closed from third in a field of six to win the restricted Wishing Well Stakes at six furlongs on the oval turf course by 3 1/2 lengths as the 3-10 favorite. Prior to that, she won two allowance races in late December and late January. “Every race has been tougher and she rises to the occasion,” Mullins said. “You have to appreciate her last race. She handled it pretty well.” :: Playing Santa Anita? Get the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports available now. In the $100,000 Monrovia Stakes, Queen Maxima will be a short-priced favorite against five rivals. Owned by the partnership of Dutch Girl Holdings and Irving Ventures, Queen Maxima worked quickly several times in March, including five furlongs in a rapid 57.40 seconds on March 29. “She does those pretty handily,” Mullins said of the workouts. In the Monrovia Stakes, Queen Maxima may be closer to the front than her typical style under jockey Juan Hernandez. The competition includes Venganza, a closer who has won two allowance races on the hillside turf course this year; and Queen of the Mud, unraced since a win in the restricted Swingtime Stakes at a mile on turf in October. In 2024, Queen of the Mud was second in three consecutive stakes sprints at tracks in the mid-Atlantic region. Queen of the Mud was based in Florida with trainer Graham Motion over the winter. “We have been pointing for this race since she came back from a short break,” Motion wrote in a text from Dubai on Thursday. “We feel like her best trip is probably somewhere between six furlongs to a mile.” Echo Eddie Stakes Stakes winners Drop Um and R Heisman are part of a field of eight in Saturday’s first stakes, the $125,000 Echo Eddie Stakes for California-bred 3-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt. Both Drop Um and R Heisman have much to prove in the Echo Eddie. Drop Um, winner of the Everett Nevin Stakes at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton last July, finished fifth of eight in the California Cup Derby at 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 18 at Santa Anita, leading early before fading in the final furlong. Trained by Felix Rondan, Drop Um finished first in the Bay Meadows Juvenile at a mile at Pleasanton in December but was disqualified and placed second for hampering a rival in the stretch. Drop Um is likely to show speed, which may help R Heisman, who is winless in seven starts since the Graduation Stakes for statebred 2-year-olds at 5 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar last August. Trained by Peter Miller, R Heisman finished sixth and then fifth in two allowance races at Oaklawn Park in February and March. The Echo Eddie Stakes drew a diverse field. I’m a Bad Boy, a three-time winner, led throughout an allowance race for statebreds at a mile on turf on Feb. 28 in his last start. He can be effective as a stalker for jockey Edwin Maldonado. Titanic Thompson, a Grazen colt owned and bred by Nick Alexander, is the field’s lone first-time starter. Evening Jewel Stakes America’s Mark has thrived on turf since late January, winning consecutive starts in a maiden race for sprinters and a one-mile allowance race. Trained by Mike Puype, America’s Mark will be tried on dirt for the first time since September when she has her stakes debut in Saturday’s $125,000 Evening Jewel Stakes for 3-year-old statebred fillies at 6 1/2 furlongs. A rare California-bred by American Pharoah, America’s Mark is out of Marks Mine, a four-time stakes winner in sprints on dirt and synthetic tracks in Northern California from 2012-14. The Evening Jewel Stakes drew the 2024 stakes winners In the Air Tonight and Sunset Grazen in a field of nine. In the Air Tonight, trained by Steve Knapp, won the CTBA Stakes for statebred 2-year-old fillies at 5 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar last August but is winless in her last six starts. She was a game third in a six-furlong allowance race for 3-year-old fillies against open company on March 1. Sunset Grazen was second to America’s Mark in an allowance/optional-claiming race at a mile on turf on Feb. 22. Sunset Grazen was claimed for $50,000 in that race. Last fall, when trained by Sam Calvario, Sunset Grazen won the Golden Gate Debutante at 1 1/16 miles at Pleasanton. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.