Rebecca Bayliss confident in Beau Zoom after strong win in Mt Barker

A jovial Rebecca Bayliss is confident comeback gelding Beau Zoom is ready for a crack at this Sunday’s Fitzpatrick Plate after a brilliant win in Mt Barker last week. Beau Zoom was steered by Natasha Faithfull to a commanding victory over Classic Magnus and the in-form favourite Oxbridge in the Kevin Forbes Handicap (1200m). There were fears throughout the race meet about the safety of the turf but Beau Zoom was unfazed on the home stretch to notch a one-length victory. Soft and shifting ground near the winning post and the first bend after the post which had jockeys, stewards and trainers looking over and repairing the turf between races. The win was enough for Bayliss to declare the seven-year-old ready for the $100,000 feature race in Albany. She said she was pleased with how he ran on the back of a tendon injury. “I was a bit concerned about the track because of his injury but he ran really well,” she said. “It was more of a fitness run. “We were going to start Boxing Day but we had too much weight so we thought we would wait for this.” Having won both his starts in the Great Southern and running a sixth at Ascot this campaign, the former Neville Parnham-trained galloper is recapturing his best form. “(Ascot) wasn’t a bad run, he just got a check and had to come around but finished off well,” Bayliss said. “I don’t think it was bad and I think today’s race (Mt Barker) showed that. “When they’re coming back from injury, they need to get their confidence back. “I think he is getting it and a win certainly helps.” The result was an eighth victory from 27 starters for the Bayliss stable, continuing their terrific run in the 2023-24 season. Bayliss also said her promising youngster Final Siren, who has won all of his three starts, is almost ready to race again after a short break. The three-year-old has been talked about as a potential runner in the inaugural $300,000 The Bluff Knoll. “He is probably two or three weeks away from coming back in,” she said. “He will race in a three-year-old plate at Ascot and then we hoping to get him into the Breeders (Classic) at Bunbury.”