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Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators

Champion reinsman Gary Hall Jnr generally is reasonably conservative when extolling the virtues of horses. But he was unable to hide his excitement after driving two-year-old gelding Never Ending to an easy victory in the 2130m City Discount Tyres Wheel And Tyre Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

“He is really scary,” said Hall. “I never thought I’d feel nervous about driving a horse. But I don’t want to be the one who does anything wrong with this horse.

“He’s got scary talent and he is actually too good to let go yet, if that makes sense. He is just too fast for his own good; the ability is unbelievable. He is not just a speedy two-year-old; he could be anything.

“There are so many hurdles along the way, but you don’t want anything to go wrong. It’s not often you get a trouble-free run with a horse for five or six years. That’s what you hope for every time you have one that you think can go a bit. I always think how lucky we were with Im Themightyquinn, who didn’t have any serious issues during his career. It’s not hard to be excited about the potential of Never Ending.”

Never Ending, trained at Boyanup by Justin Prentice, was the $1.20 favourite from the No. 1 barrier, and he gave Hall an armchair drive, coasting through the lead time in a leisurely 39.5sec. and the opening quarters in 32.7sec. and 31.4sec. before he sprinted over the final 400m sections in 28.8sec. and 27.7sec.

He was not extended in beating the $5.20 chance Soho Confidential by 4m, rating an extremely modest 2.1. This followed his brilliant last-to-first debut victory over 2185m at Pinjarra 18 days earlier when he sped over the final 800m in 54.59sec.

Never Ending, who was bought by Prentice for $75,000 at the 2021 APG Perth yearling sale on behalf of several stable clients, certainly looks set for stardom.

He is by American stallion Sweet Lou and is out of the Die Laughing mare Endless Journey, who was placed twice from nine starts as a two and three-year-old in 2006 and 2007 and earned $2560.

Never Ending is a half-brother to Isaiah Artois (26 starts for nine wins, including the Pearl Classic for two-year-olds in June 2014, and six placings for stakes of $117,351), Janet Gai (seven starts for one win and $5460), Dibaba (164 starts for 17 wins, 29 placings and $112,846) and Mandy Joan (59 starts for 13 wins, 15 placings and $168,564).