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Whiskey ‘N Roses seeking to maintain strong fresh-up record
Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk • July 23rd, 2026 3:03 pm
Group Two performer Whiskey N' Roses will resume at Te Rapa this weekend. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images)
Whiskey ‘N Roses has a strong fresh-up record, and the Group Two performer will be out to keep that intact when he heads to Te Rapa on Saturday.
The rising five-year-old son of Belardo was runner-up on debut as a two-year-old before winning at his second start, and he continued his form into his three-year-old term where he bookended his season with wins and attained black-type when placing in the Gr.2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m) and Gr.3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m).
While he won first-up over 1200m at Te Rapa last September, his four-year-old season has been less memorable, having finished unplaced in his following four starts, and he hasn’t been sighted on raceday since his eighth placing behind subsequent Group One performer Sweynesday at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day.
“It was a muddled season and it just didn’t pan out, everything seemed to go wrong,” trainer Joanne Surgenor said. “At the beginning of the season, he had an awful stone bruise and it (season) never came together.”
Surgenor has put Whiskey ‘N Roses last preparation behind her and she is pleased with the way he has returned.
“He has really developed,” she said. “He is a lot stronger now, he has filled out and matured. I am really happy with him.”
Whiskey ‘N Roses had a 1000m trial at Ruakaka earlier this month where he finished runner-up behind the promising Rotten Tommy, who came out a week later to win his maiden at the Northland track, and Surgenor is looking forward to her stable star resuming in the John Callinan Memorial (1300m) this weekend.
“He had a nice trial at Ruakaka and he is looking really good,” she said. “He is fresh-up over 1300m on a Heavy track, so I am expecting him to go a nice race.”
While pleased with Whiskey ‘N Roses ahead of his first-up run, Surgenor said he faces a stiff task against a strong line-up and believes 1300m might be an ask for him so early in his preparation.
“A lot of them have been racing through winter and they are pretty seasoned,” she said. “1300m might be a bit of a stretch fresh, but we will see how he goes.”
Surgenor doesn’t have any set plans for Whiskey ‘N Roses, but she would like to extend him beyond sprint distances this season.
“We really want to get him to the mile this season,” she said. “But we will make some calls after this race and progress from there.”
