Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Boom pacer Never Ending, a winner at 13 of his 16 starts, will warm up for his tilt at the $1,250,000 Nullarbor slot race on Friday week when he begins from the No. 3 barrier in the $100,000 Westbred Classic for four-year-old entires and geldings at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
“I’ll push forward and it would be nice to run a big race leading into the Nullarbor,” said reinsman Gary Hall Jnr.
“Never Ending has been settling pretty good in his recent races, so I’m not particularly worried about him overracing. Hanging has been his biggest problem. I have watched the replay of the Bunbury Cup ten times and I still think that he would’ve run a good second to Jumpingjackmac (not sixth) if he wasn’t hanging.
“Friday night’s race is a drop in grade for him, but there are a few nice horses in the field.”
The Katja Warwick-trained All Is Well (Chris Lewis; barrier one) and the Murray Lindau-trained Hotly Pursued (Kyle Harper; barrier four) are racing in fine form and will have many admirers.
Lewis is likely to press forward at the start in a bid to set the pace. The Foreclosure gelding relished his pacemaking role from barrier one when he dashed over the final 400m sections in 28.2sec. and 28.1sec. and won at a 1.56.4 rate from Mister Montblanc and Arma Xfactor over 2130m last Friday week. That was his 13TH win from 39 starts.
Hotly Pursued is in devastating form. He led and finished a half-head second to Never Ending in the Group 3 Preux Chevalier Classic three Fridays ago. That followed a hat-trick of wins over 2130m at Gloucester Park in February.
Kate Gath has been engaged to drive Flyin Disco for Bunbury trainer Sarah Wall. The Betting Line gelding has won in weaker company over 2100m at Bunbury at his past two starts, and he faces a stern test from the outside of the back line.
Skylord, owned, trained and driven by Jocelyn Young, will start from barrier No. 2 on the back line and he is capable of a bold showing at his third appearance after a spell.
Capel trainer-reinsman Aiden De Campo will be looking for a solid effort from Sorridere, who will begin out wide at barrier eight at his first run since finishing seventh behind Skylou in the WA Derby on November 3.
“I think he has improved from his three-year-old campaign,” said De Campo. “But this looks hard from the wide barrier.”
Henley Brook trainer Mike Reed has two runners, Heez Good As Gold (Shannon Suvaljko) and Mister Linton (Emily Suvaljko). Mister Linton faces a hard task from barrier five, but Heez Good As Gold should be prominent after starting from the inside of the back line.
“I’d be happy if Heez Good As Gold runs a place,” said Reed whose stable will be represented with eight runners at the meeting. Reed will not be on course and his team will be in the care of Michael Tenardi and Kevin Keys. Reed will be in Melbourne for the Nutrien standardbred yearling sale on the weekend.
Reed said that one of his best prospects would be Dark Eyes, who will start from the outside barrier in the field of six to contest the Nullarbor One Week Away Pace for three-year-olds.
Dark Eyes was an impressive last-start winner when he led and beat Rock Rosie Rock. “If the speed is on early, I expect he will run a good race,” said Reed.
Artful Major, the polemarker for trainer Justin Prentice and reinsman Gary Hall Jnr, has won at four of his eight starts and will be hard to beat at his third appearance after a spell. He led and won by four lengths from Bells Whisper over 2100m at Bunbury last Saturday week.
“It’s a super little field, and we will try to lead,” said Hall. “Artful Major goes better in front than from behind. He is more of a tryer in front, so we will be trying to hold up.”
In-form reinsman Chris Voak is confident that the Ron Huston-trained Bet The House will fight out the finish. Bet The House, who finished strongly to win from Grevis and Menemsha in the Gold Bullion final last Friday night, will begin from barrier No. 5.
“Bet The House is not just a sit-sprinter, and I think that there is some power there as well,” said Voak. “If it’s Indian file he will be able to cruise up to the breeze.”
Hall has several solid winning prospects on the 11-event program, starting with State Of Heaven in race one and including October Reign (race two), Never Ending (race six) and Solesseo Matuca (race eight).