Final Siren sounds out warning to winter sprint rivals with speedy showing at Monday’s Belmont trials

Flying sprinter Final Siren sounded out a warning to his winter sprint rivals with a narrow but stylish 1000m success at Monday’s Belmont trials. On the rail and immediately tagging speedster Puli, Lucy Fiore had Final Siren in a comfortable rhythm and ready to strike when a gap appeared at the 500m. With Puli - last season’s Beaufine Stakes winner - leaning off the fence, Fiore fired the four-year-old up the ‘sprint lane’ to race within a half-length off the pacesetter on straightening. With 200m remaining, the son of I’m All The Talk wrested the ascendancy away while Ghost Who Walks, who had traveled alongside Final Siren through the contest, began to let down. Despite a late lunge from the 1000m specialist, Rebecca Bayliss’ charge had enough to spare and scored by a half-head. “I was very happy with it. You always go into it thinking, ‘have I got him right?’” Bayliss said. “He probably needed it, but he’s pulled up well. He’ll get a lot of benefit and take a lot of confidence from it.” Beginning his career in Albany with Bayliss, Final Siren was a noted speedball who would run his short-course races at a breakneck speed upfront. But with maturity, he has shown the versatility to win from behind. “A couple of times he missed the start, and it was always talked about that he had to lead to win,” Bayliss said. “It happened one day, and he still won, which showed that he has more strings to his bow and that we can settle him. When you lead all the time, you become a sitting duck. “He continued stepping up in distance and racing well. It’s hard to say what his best distance is. “He raced well over the 1400m, and we were going to go one run after the (Bunbury) Stakes and have a go at the 1600m. “But we were just concerned that he would run himself into the ground trying to settle him over the longer trip.” Bayliss has penned down Pinjarra’s Beaufine Stakes (1000m) as the first port of call for Final Siren on July 5 followed by the H G Bolton Sprint (1200m) a fortnight later. The Bolton Sprint will be held at the gelding’s new home track of Bunbury, with Bayliss shifting to Capel four months ago to what was formerly the De Campo pacing residency. “It’s been an adjustment. I’ve lived in Albany my whole life and we’ve had a few hiccups and a virus go through our stable since we moved but it looks like things are starting to turn around,” Bayliss said. “Location wise, it’s perfect. I still go to the track a couple of times a week and Forrest Beach has been brilliant, although it’s been out of service in winter. “We’ve got a soft-sand track and can still swim them as well.”