Trainer John Wallace is counting down the days before his exciting prospect Shoot Out makes his comeback ahead of long range plans to contest the AJC Australian Derby in Sydney.Wallace declared Shoot Out was the best horse he had trained after the gelding scored a stunning win in the Group Two Sires' Produce stakes (1400m) at Eagle Farm in May.The son of staying sire High Chaparral then started favourite for the Group One TJ Smith (1600m) at Eagle Farm the following month but his performance was

Trainer John Wallace is counting down the days before his exciting prospect Shoot Out makes his comeback ahead of long range plans to contest the AJC Australian Derby in Sydney.

Wallace declared Shoot Out was the best horse he had trained after the gelding scored a stunning win in the Group Two Sires' Produce stakes (1400m) at Eagle Farm in May.

The son of staying sire High Chaparral then started favourite for the Group One TJ Smith (1600m) at Eagle Farm the following month but his performance was dulled by a heavy track and he laboured home to finish seventh, five lengths behind winner Linky Dink.

Wallace has been a successful trainer in Queensland for more than 30 years and his former best horse was Oompala who won four Cups races in Queensland before finishing third to Jeune in the 1994 Melbourne Cup.

Shoot Out was nominated for Eagle Farm last Saturday but Wallace decided he would delay his comeback and instead gave him a jump out at the Gold Coast on Thursday.

"I put him in last Saturday to see how the handicapper treated him but it was always my intention for him to resume next month," Wallace said.

Wallace considered sending Shoot Out to Melbourne this spring before deciding to extend his spell.

"After he won the Sires' we thought about going to Melbourne for the spring but he needed a decent break and he would not have had enough time to get ready for the autumn in Sydney," he said.

While plans are pencilled in for the Sydney autumn, Wallace is also targeting the Magic Millions Trophy (1400m) at the Gold Coast in January as his summer goal.

"He'll resume next month in the Gold Edition and will then go on to the Vo Rogue before the Magic Millions Trophy," Wallace said.

"He's been in work a fair while now and he's matured a lot since the Sires' and is coming along nicely.

"After the Magic Millions he'll go for a short break then he'll go to Sydney in the autumn and take the traditional path to the AJC Derby."

The Gold Edition Plate (1200m) at Eagle Farm on December 12 and the Vo Rogue Plate (1350m) at Doomben on Boxing Day are both set-weight races for three-year-olds.

The $1 million Magic Millions Trophy (1400m) is on January 9.