It’s a global marathon for fans of Group 1 classic racing this weekend, with the running (in chronological order) of the Oaks, the Queensland Oaks, the Derby and the Belmont Stakes.

Our local version is the baby of the quartet. It was first run on Boxing Day 1951, by which time the Oaks (1779), the Derby (1780) and the Belmont (1867) were all long in the tooth.

As well as being the youngest, it seems the Queensland Oaks is the most popular with racehorse owners. Eighteen fillies will face the starter at Eagle Farm on Saturday, from a total of 26 paid up. (There are five emergencies and three were balloted out.)

The (Epsom) Oaks, to be run at 1am Saturday AEST, has attracted 12 fillies. At publication time there were 17 left in the Derby (1am Sunday), but that number was likely to be reduced at declaration time. There are just nine in this year’s Belmont (9am Sunday).

If you assumed that a big field equals a tough task for the punter, you were right. The opening favourite for Saturday’s Queensland Oaks was Panova at a backable $4.80, with three other fillies in single figures.

The punters can be excused for their uncertainty. In the five years since the Queensland Oaks returned to Eagle Farm at a permanently reduced distance of 2200 metres, five different races have produced the winner – the Australian Oaks, the Gold Coast Bracelet, a Sunshine Coast Class 1, a Randwick three-year-olds’ benchmark 72 and The Roses.

Going back further, 12 of the past 20 winners have had their last start in The Roses, but they’ve finished anywhere from first to ninth in that race.

Saturday’s field includes the first six home in The Roses, plus eighth, 10th and 11th. Good luck, Australia!