Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Exciting four-year-old Never Ending will resume racing after an absence of 84 days when he contests the $50,000 Nova 93.7 Winter Cup over 2536m at Gloucester Park on Friday night in what is expected to be a serious test against vastly more seasoned, experienced and in-form pacers.
Never Ending, a winner at 14 of his 18 starts, will be taking his first step in this campaign as outstanding Boyanup trainer Justin Prentice prepares for an assault on the $2.1 million Eureka at Menangle on September 7.
Prentice has given Never Ending a thorough preparation, and the Sweet Lou gelding is primed to prove hard to beat at his first appearance after a beneficial spell. He probably will have two or three runs before travelling to Sydney.
Never Ending is a noted frontrunner who has led all the way in six of his wins and has set the pace in five other successes after working in the breeze in the early stages.
The Miki Taker (barrier one), The Code Breaker (two) and Jumpingjackmac (three) have drawn inside Never Ending (four), and there is a strong possibility that Never Ending will be unable to cross to an early lead.
The Miki Taker, trained and driven by Aiden De Campo, is in top form, and he warmed up for this week’s assignment with a striking victory over Mighty Conqueror in a 2130m Free-For-All last Friday night when he charged home from sixth at the bell.
“The Miki Taker doesn’t have a heap of gate speed and the 2536m starting point doesn’t help him,” said De Campo. “But I’ll be coming out as hard as I can and then see what happens. His work this morning (Tuesday) was good and the way he races suggests he is a good stayer, and the 2500 metres should suit him.”
Stuart McDonald will again be in the sulky behind Jumpingjackmac, and he will be hoping for a repeat of his success against Never Ending when Jumpingjackmac won the 2569m Bunbury Cup on March 30 when Never Ending covered extra ground and raced without cover for much of the way before wilting to finish sixth.
After the Bunbury Cup Never Ending was an all-the-way winner of the $100,000 Westbred Classic for four-year-olds and then was most unlucky when ninth behind Catch A Wave in the $1,250,000 Nullarbor on April 19 when his prospects were ruined as he was badly checked approaching the home turn. Champion reinsman Gary Hall Jnr declared that Never Ending would have finished second had it not been for the interference.
Hall has driven Never Ending in all his 18 starts but is currently under suspension. Prentice, who has driven 672 winners, will handle Never Ending on Friday night. He has concentrated on training in recent years and has had only four drives in 2023 and this year for a win and three placings.
Champion trainer Gary Hall Snr has a remarkable record in the Winter Cup, which was first run in 1947, having won the race eleven times, scoring with Kaydee (1994), The Falcon Strike (2003), Iontheball (2006), Washakie (2008), Im Themightyquinn (2009 and 2013), Davy Maguire (2012), Machtu (2015), Run Oneover (2016), Tact Major (2019) and Prince Of Pleasure (2023).
He holds a strong hand in this year’s Cup, with Jumpingjackmac, Diego (Maddison Brown; barrier six) and Wildwest (Shannon Suvaljko; inside of the back line).
Diego is in excellent form with three thirds and a victory over Wildwest at his past four appearances, while Wildwest has won at his past two runs, following seconds behind Finvarra and Diego.
The Code Breaker (Trent Wheeler) should be prominent from the No. 2 barrier. He was an all-the-way winner over 2130m four starts ago and ran home strongly to win from Steel The Show over 2536m last Friday week.
The consistent Steel The Show will start from barrier seven and will be driven by Dylan Egerton-Green. He is prepared by leading trainers Greg and Skye Bond, who will be looking for a strong first-up performance from Tenzing Bromac, who will be resuming after a three-month break.
Tenzing Bromac, who has a fine record of 36 starts for 17 wins and 13placings, will begin from barrier five and will be handled by Deni Roberts, who said: “He is pretty talented and should run a forward race. He has some good horses drawn inside him.”