Promising three-year-old Whiskey ‘N Roses (NZ) (Belardo) will aim to finish a challenging campaign on a positive note when he contests Wednesday’s Gr.2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m) at Te Aroha.
The son of Belardo was a smart juvenile winner over the winter at Ruakaka before returning to score in Rating 65 company in late August, encouraging trainer Joanne Surgenor to push on to lucrative age group racing over the spring.
As for several of the Sarten contenders, Whiskey ‘N Roses then travelled to Hastings in late September for the Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m), which was subsequently rescheduled to Matamata the following Wednesday.
He finished ninth in the race, an uncharacteristic performance that Surgenor put down to the four-leg journey from her Ardmore Lodge base.
“I think the travelling really took it out of him, he wasn’t himself that day and I’m not really sure what else to put that down to,” she said.
“The horses were on the truck for a long time across the week, it just flattened him, and it wasn’t to be.”
Nearly a month later, Whiskey ‘N Roses struck the same scenario with the abandonment of the Te Rapa meeting on Monday, but this time, he will head across to Te Aroha, where the race will be run right-handed.
“That won’t be any worry for him, he won at Ruakaka going right-handed so we’re hopeful everything can go our way this time,” Surgenor said.
Surgenor had initially nominated Whiskey ‘N Roses for the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) next Saturday at Riccarton Park, but after the Hawke’s Bay misfortune, has elected to bypass the elite-level feature.
“He’ll go out to the paddock for three or four weeks after this race, we decided after the disaster with the Guineas at Hastings that we were just behind the eight-ball and it was going to be too much of a push to get there,” she said.
“We’ll play it by ear after tomorrow, he’ll have a nice break and then we’ll evaluate and forge a good plan for him after that.”
