In a dramatic race on Saturday, the John Wallace-trained Shoot Out claimed a convincing win in the $1.3 million Group 1 AJC Australian Derby (2400m) at Randwick proving his ranks as a stayer.

Prior to the start of the highlight event, the John Thompson-trained Count Encosta became stuck in barrier one and had to be scratched from the 2010 AJC Derby. The race was then delayed after all the other contenders had to be removed from their own barriers and settled prior to recommencing.

Following the tense and belated start in the end it was Queenslander Shoot Out ($4.80), ridden by Stathi Katsidis, who defeated Gai Waterhouse’s Descarado ($7.50) by a widening 1 lengths with Monaco Consul ($12) just a neck back in third.

It was an intensely close fight for third as the $3.70 favourite, Rosehill Guineas winner Zabrasive, seemingly dead heated with Monaco Consul but was eventually declared the fourth placegetter after the photo-finish was consulted.

The third favourite in the betting markets, Rock Classic ($5.50) had a devastating run finishing 13^th to beat home just one runner, his stablemate Suyama ($71) in a disappointing result for trainer Bart Cummings.

After settling towards the back of the pack, Shoot Out had a lot of his supporters worried as he seemed caught up early on. But Katsidis bravely rode the spirited gelding out of trouble as they raced up the centre and came forward to lead with less than 400m to go.

Shoot Out shares the same sire as Descarado and Monaco Consul as High Chaparral becomes what is believed to be the first sire to father the AJC Derby trifecta.

An impressive autumn campaign that also included wins in the Randwick Guineas and Royal Sovereign Stakes, making Shoot Out unbeaten in three from three at the Royal Randwick track, has earned him a spell.

After the rest Shoot Out, who was purchased for just $15,000 as a yearling at the Magic Millions sales by owners Graham and Linda Huddy, will begin preparations for the illustrious Flemington spring carnival where Wallace hopes to run the talented stayer in the Melbourne Cup.

Shoot Out has now won over $1.35 million in prizemoney over his five wins from 11 career starts.

A number of great group races were held at the Randwick meeting on Saturday and other highlights included $500,000 Group 1 T J Smith Stakes (1200m) where Melito claimed victory, and Yosei’s upset win in the $300,000 Group 1 AJC Sires Produce Stakes (1400m).

2010 David Jones AJC Australian Derby Results:

Place	Horse	Trainer	Jockey
1	SHOOT OUT	John Wallace	Stathi Katsidis
2	DESCARADO (NZ)	Gai Waterhouse	Nash Rawiller
3	MONACO CONSUL (NZ)	Michael Moroney	Damien Oliver
4	ZABRASIVE (NZ)	John O’Shea	Hugh Bowman
5	EXTRA ZERO	David Hayes	Glen Boss
6	HOME ON A WING	Anthony Cummings	Tim Clark
7	CEDARBERG	Pat Carey	Glyn Schofield
8	SAINT ENCOSTA	John P Thompson	Craig Williams
9	SHERPA TENZING (NZ)	Jim Conlan	Mark Zahra
10	HANDSOME ZULU (NZ)	John Sargent	Alex Lai
11	LANDLOCKED (NZ)	Anthony Cummings	Jay Ford
12	KEEP THE PEACE (NZ)	Shaune Ritchie	Jason Waddell
13	ROCK CLASSIC	Bart Cummings	Michael Rodd
14	SUYAMA (NZ)	Bart Cummings	Michelle Payne
Scratched:
COUNT ENCOSTA