Trailer Queen building on comeback win

POMONA, Calif. - Trainer Cliff Sise was not the only one who wondered if Trailer Queen was ready for her comeback Aug. 22 at Del Mar.

Runner-up in a hot maiden race for 2-year-olds in her debut May 18, Trailer Queen's campaign subsequently stalled because of tender shins. She was just about ready for a comeback Aug. 6, but she coughed and was scratched from a race in which she was the 7-5 program favorite.

Then a minor foot problem flared up. Sise worked Trailer Queen only once before her next opportunity to run, on Aug. 22, and he was not exactly brimming with confidence.

"I'm going into the race thinking she [had a setback], and had only one work since she was coughing, and that she could be short," he said.

If was short going into that race, then her rivals in the $60,000 Bustles and Bows on Thursday at Fairplex Park are in trouble. Trailer Queen was visually impressive in her comeback, winning by two lengths and earning a 69 Beyer Speed figure, one point less than the figure she earned in her debut.

Trailer Queen can win the Bustles and Bows, a 6 1/2-furlong race, if she improves off her comeback victory. But she has to catch the speed.

set a blistering pace and won a $62,500 maiden-claiming race by a nose Aug. 19 at Del Mar, earning a career-high Beyer of 65. Trained by Jose DeLima, she will set the pace Thursday under David Flores, the all-time leading stakes rider at Fairplex, with 53 wins going into Wednesday. Trailer Queen will be ridden by Martin Pedroza, the track's all-time leading rider, with 437 wins.

In addition to Trailer Queen and Lake Como, seven others entered the Bustles and Bows. The leading contenders are second-start maiden Dancin Olivia; northern California shipper Hunter's Fortune; comebacker Aloha Mangos Kitty; and Del Mar droppers Pali Girl and one-eyed I Can See. Outsiders are Angelic Angie and Chills and Thrills.