Albany trainer Rebecca Bayliss out for strong day at local track with Elite Fighter, Beau Zoom and Final Siren

Talented five-year-old Elite Fighter will have his first start for a new stable, when he contests the Regional Championship Heat: The Road To Ascot (1230m) in Albany on Sunday. Albany Racing Club will hold its official opening day on Sunday with a seven-race card highlighted by the $40,000 feature. Elite Fighter was formerly trained by Liam O’Loughlin but is now in the stables of Rebecca Bayliss and has drawn well for his first-up run. Kyra Yuill will be aboard the gelding who has won five of his 26 career starts and had a soft 1000m barrier trial last month. Bayliss said she was expecting a forward showing from Elite Fighter on Sunday. “From what Liam has told me, he goes better fresh,” she said. “He goes good first-up and even better second-up so we gave him a light hit out at the trials and into this. “He’s been in the stables since August and is an easy horse to deal with. “I think he’s still got some wins in him, we’ve changed a few things and a new stable so we’ll see what happens on Sunday and go from there.” Elite Fighter won the Albany heat of the Skyracing.TV Provincial Championship last season and ran 10th in the final at Belmont in May. Trainer Roy Rogers has five horses engaged in the feature race, including top weight Sneaky Fox, while Steve Wolfe will start both Cable Boy and Looks. Bayliss was looking forward to Beau Zoom having his first start for the stable in the 70-plus handicap over 1100m. “He’s come back from injury and had a long time off,” she said. “He had two trials, the second was very good. “He is a really nice horse and we’re excited about him.” Dominant maiden winner Final Siren will also go around on Sunday for Bayliss, having blitzed his rivals on debut a fortnight ago. “We decided to start him here again for bit more experience,” Bayliss said. “It was a pretty impressive first-up effort for a horse that had one trial. “He’s always shown us a lot.”