Racing: Shoot Out loaded and ready for spring targets

Trainer John Wallace believes AJC Australian Derby winner Shoot Out is on track to prove he's the best stayer in Australia.

Shoot Out is progressing well since returning to work at the Gold Coast ahead of an ambitious spring campaign in Melbourne aimed at the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in October and the Melbourne Cup in November.

He will have his final start as a 3-year-old when he resumes in the Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on July 31.

It's an early comeback for Shoot Out, who won the Group One AJC Australian Derby (2400m) at Randwick at his last appearance in mid-April.

"He's going well and I might give him a barrier trial soon at Doomben before taking him away," Wallace said. "He's come back a lot bigger and stronger after his spell and he's filled out into a really nice horse."

Shoot Out will start every fortnight after the Bletchingly, starting with the Liston Stakes (1400m) and continuing in the Memsie Stakes (1400m), Dato Tan Stakes (1600m) and Yalumba Stakes (2000m) before the Cox.

Wallace has never saddled a Cox Plate runner but he did train Oompala who ran third to Jeune in the 1994 Melbourne Cup.

For Wallace, Shoot Out has turned his life around after he was laid up in hospital with serious health issues only a couple of years ago.

- AAP