Racing: Big hopes for Utopia in Oaks

BRISBANE: It's been 28 years since John Wallace won the A$400,000 Queensland Oaks but he's hopeful of ending the drought with former New Zealand filly Utopia at Eagle Farm today.

Wallace's Queensland Oaks winner was Mother of Pearl in 1982 and until this year the filly was his last winner at the elite level.

However, Wallace's absence from the Group One podium changed when Shoot Out claimed Group One victories in the Randwick Guineas and AJC Australian Derby at Randwick during the Sydney autumn carnival.

Wallace told everyone who cared to listen that Shoot Out was the real deal and the best horse he had ever trained and he's now telling a similar story with Utopia's bid for glory in today's Group One Queensland Oaks (2400m).

Wallace has enjoyed the ride of his life with Shoot Out who is back in work preparing for a Cox Plate-Melbourne Cup campaign which kicks off with his final run as a three-year-old in next month's Bletchingly Stakes at Caulfield. The wily trainer isn't comparing Utopia to Shoot Out but he does rate her a big hope in the Oaks.

"I give her a great chance of winning," Wallace said. "She's a very promising filly and mark my words she'll run the distance right out.

Like Shoot Out, Utopia is owned by Graham and Linda Huddy who bought her for an undisclosed sum off Kiwi trainer John Sargent who saddles up rival Oaks filly Spera.

The Huddys bought Utopia after she was runner-up to Sir Time Keeper in a Group Three race over 2000 metres at Awapuni on April 3.

Jim Byrne, who leads the Brisbane jockeys' premiership, will ride Utopia, replacing suspended Stathi Katsidis who teamed with Wallace to win on Shoot Out during the autumn.

- AAP