Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Sensational young pacer Never Ending will be out to maintain his unblemished record when he returns to racing after a seven-month absence and has his first start as a three-year-old when he contests the $20,250 Australian Premium Feeds Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Never Ending, the handsome son of American sire Sweet Lou, won brilliantly at all of his six appearances as a two-year-old last year, and he should prove very hard to beat this week, following a splendid win in a 2185m trial at Pinjarra on Wednesday of last week.
He started from barrier six in the trial field of eight and Gary Hall Jnr sent the Justin Prentice-trained gelding to the front after 500m. He then bowled along in the lead and was not extended in winning narrowly from Otis, rating 1.56.9, with a final 400m section of 27.1sec.
Never Ending has never been beaten, either in races or in the four trials he has contested. He will start from the No. 5 barrier on Friday night in a field of six which includes outstanding youngsters Rocket City, Sorridere and Im The Black Flash.
Rocket City, trained and driven by Dylan Egerton-Green, notched his fifth win when he led and beat Star Lavra last Friday week. He has the advantage of starting from barrier four, on the inside of Never Ending.
Sorridere is racing keenly for trainer-reinsman Aiden De Campo. He was badly hampered for room before getting clear in the late stages and flying home, out wide, to finish third behind Star Lavra and Fess Up last Friday night. That followed his all-the-way win over Slamma Alabama and Hotly Pursued at his previous outing.
Im The Black Flash is sure to improve on his disappointing fourth behind Star Lavra last Friday night when he set a modest early pace and faded after sprinting the third quarter in 27.6sec. He will be driven by Stuart McDonald and will start from the outside barrier.
Two of Never Ending’s rivals in forthcoming feature events for three-year-olds were successful at Bunbury on Wednesday afternoon. Justin Prentice’s highly promising Rolling Fire chalked up his fourth win from eight starts when he set the pace and scored an effortless victory over Brulee, rating 1.59.5 over the 2100m journey, with final quarters of 28.9sec. and 27.1sec.
Franco Mecca, trained by Gary Hall Snr and driven by Hall Jnr, dashed to an early lead and went on to easily beat Lor Titanium, rating 1.57.9 over 2100m, with final 400m sections of 28.1sec. and 27.7sec.