The Ballarat trainer has as three-year-old colt Translator running in the group 1 $2m Victorian Derby, 2500m, at Flemington on Saturday.

Blackiston could not be more excited having his young horse on racing's biggest stage.

"It's fantastic (to have a runner in the derby)," Blackiston told The Courier.

"We planned for this horse late winter and early spring, gave him a couple of runs as a late two-year-old and he's furnished nicely."

Running in his first group 1 race, Blackiston is confident that Translator can adjust to the higher quality field.

"We are rolling the dice a bit," he said.

"After his run in the Geelong Classic last week we are confident he can make a good run at it and the distance should suit him nicely."

Since his debut run in April this year, Translator has built nicely across six starts and Blackiston is hoping the experience of running at Flemington will help his development.

"Whatever he does (on Saturday), the exciting thing is he will grow into a better autumn three-year-old and hopefully a spring four-year-old."

Blackiston has had a decorated career as a trainer in Australia, working under the legendary Bart Cummings before establishing his own stables at Cranbourne in 1999 and moving to Flemington in 2003.

After spending over 15 years at Melbourne's iconic track, Blackiston decided to move his operation to Ballarat last year to give his horses some more space and expand his stable.

"It reminds me a lot of England with the openness," he said.

"The reason we came out here was to give the horses a bit more space and diversity, Flemington was really good, but I felt we were just getting a bit to crammed.

"It was a big step and something we certainly didn't take lightly, but with a few things changing at Flemington we just thought it was the right move to make," he said.