Trainer Ciaron Maher expects plenty of improvement from his talented three year old Jukebox second up in the Group 3 $150,000 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

Jukebox, above, is among the nominations for the 2018 Bletchingly Stakes at Caulfield. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.

Jukebox was having his first run since finishing down the track in the Group 1 $1m Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington in November when a handy third behind Voodoo Lad and Inn Keeper in the Group 3 $150,000 Ladbrokes Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on July 14.

Maher was happy with the run and expects the Snitzel colt to show a lot of improvement heading into a very strong weight for age Bletchingly Stakes field.

“He’ll improve off his run the other day,” Maher told AAP.

“It think it will be a reasonably strong race by the looks of it but he’s in good order and he’ll improve off his first run, up to the 1200.

“We’ll accept and have a look.”

“It was a bit of a tactical race.”

“Craig (Williams) had to make a decision whether he went forward or sat behind the three or four horses who had speed inside him.

“He made the choice to ride him conservatively.

“He had to make a decision one way or the other, and I was happy with the run.”

Julebox is one of 13 nominations for the Bletchingly Stakes which includes the Sir John Monash Stakes quinella of Voodoo Lad and Inn Keeper as well as Group 1 winners Black Heart Bart and Vega Magic.