And when it did come, it was at a venue where she was supposed to debut almost two years ago.
The richly bred daughter of High Chaparral was set to start for Wingatui trainer Steven Prince as a late 2yr-old in July 2013, but developed shin soreness.
Prince had quite an opinion of the filly, and she was short on luck when she debuted at Wingatui in December 2013.
The Lion Queen had one more run in the South before ending back up in the North Island to go to stud after suffering injury problems.
However, that plan fell through and she was back in work late last year with Matamata trainer Graham Richardson, who bought the filly for $95,000 at the 2012 Karaka yearling sales for Dennis Mullally, of Alexandra.
Six starts in the North Island produced three seconds before she came back to Prince in search of a maiden victory.
The 4yr-old mare's mother, The Mighty Lions, was a black-type performer over staying distances, and Prince thinks that's where her future lies, despite winning over 1600m yesterday.
''She's not easy to ride,'' Prince said.
''She just keeps going the one speed - she can't sprint.
''A mile is probably not her go either, with the breeding - she's a 2200m to 2400m horse. We took the blinkers off her today to try something different - she's got it in her.''
Whether The Lion Queen is seen over more ground this season remains to be seen.
''She can handle the wet but we'll just see what happens,'' Prince said.
Prince added a second win later in the day with Them Or Us for Waimate owners Bob and Diana Goodeve.
One Wingatui galloper who is likely to get a staying test this season is Dalwhinnie.
The full sister to 2013 New Zealand Cup winner Spring Cheer continues to impress in the grades, taking care of a rating 65 field over 1600m yesterday, her third win from eight starts.
Her tractable nature was on display yesterday as Chris Johnson, who rode three winners on the day, slotted her in just behind the speed.
Stable representative Debbie Kennedy was pleased with the tidy performance from both horse and jockey.
''It was a good ride,'' Debbie Kennedy said.
''She jumped and put herself there. She took a wee while to get going, but once she did, she got to the line quite nicely.
''We've got a lot of time for her - on her breeding, she should get a lot more ground. She relaxes in her races, which helps a lot, but I still think this time next year she'll be a better horse mentally.''
All three of the 4yr-old's wins have come on dead tracks, so one more run - perhaps at Riccarton in the coming weeks - is likely to be Dalwhinnie's lot.
''We'll go home and see what she does, but I suppose we'll have a wee go at Riccarton. I don't think she'll be pushed too far this season.''
