A tilt at stakes level is in the offing for exciting juvenile Whiskey ‘N Roses following his debut runner-up performance behind Magice over 1200m at Matamata last Wednesday.

The son of Belardo was green in the concluding stages of his debut outing and showed there is a heap of improvement to come, although that might not be seen until next season.

The Listed Staphanos At Novara Park Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Pukekohe later this month is the only race on the radar for trainer Joanne Surgenor, who is loath to ask too much of her talented young gelding too early.

“He is just developing all the time,” she said. “It (talent) is definitely there, it was just unfortunate that his first start had to be left-handed because there wasn’t anything else available. 

“There is that Listed mile but whether he gets a mile or not (I am not sure). There is no two-year-old 1400m going into the mile. It is a $100,000 race and there is no lead up into it.

“He has pulled up really well and he ate up really well, so he might go to that mile, or we might put him in the paddock. I will work him a couple of days next week and see how he is and how we feel. If we aren’t happy, we will just put him in the paddock.

“I think he is going to be a super three-year-old hence why I am in doubt as to whether we push the button too much at the moment or just pop him in the paddock.”

Whiskey ‘N Roses was bred by Ashford Lodges’ Peter and Sherin Walker, who also had plenty of success with his close relation Showoroses, who Surgenor trained to win five of her 20 career starts, including the Gr.2 Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m), Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile and Gr.2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m), and also placed in the Gr.2 Eight Carat Classic (1600m), Gr.3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m), Cal Isuzu Stakes and Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes.

“It has been a great family for us, we have been very lucky with them,” Surgenor said.

While Surgenor is weighing up the immediate racing future of Whiskey ‘N Roses, she is looking forward to heading to Te Rapa this coming Saturday to resume the racing career of Dior Sauvage.

“He had a tie back operation and he trialled up really well at Pukekohe (last month when winning his 1100m heat),” Surgenor said. “He then got a bit of a throat infection, so we had to back off. We are looking forward to getting him to Te Rapa next Saturday.