Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Outstanding gelding Never Ending, whose unbeaten sequence of nine ended when he galloped badly and finished third behind Louie Dior last Friday night, has the brilliance to make amends by winning the $100,000 Allwood Stud Westbred Classic for three-year-old colts and geldings at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The stewards reacted to the misdemeanour by placing Never Ending out of the draw, and the gelding will have to overcome the disadvantage of starting from the outside of the front line (barrier No. 9). But he has the class to bounce back to top form.
Never Ending lost about 15 lengths when he galloped at the start of last week’s 2130m event and he gave a magnificent performance to sprint home fast into third place behind the pacemaker Louie Dior and Sorridere when he sped over the final 800m in 55sec.
“He was awesome, and it was a huge run,” said reinsman Gary Hall Jnr. “He probably was a bit too keen last week and tried to come out of the gate a bit too hard and overreached.
“The only good thing about being beaten was that it wasn’t the result of a bad drive. His winning run was broken just by bad luck, rather than anyone’s fault.
“I’m confident that he won’t do it again. First and foremost, I’ve got to get him to drop the bit. I’ll let things unfold and wait for the right time to put him in the race.”
Skylord, trained and driven by Jocelyn Young, will start from barrier No. 6 and is one of Never Ending’s most serious rivals. He has won at seven of his 14 starts, and he maintained his excellent form when he began from barrier six, raced wide early and then in the breeze before finishing second to Rolling Fire at his most recent appearance, seven weeks ago.
Capel trainer Aiden De Campo holds a strong hand in Friday night’s classic with four runners, Magnus Victor (barrier one), Dourado (two), Runningonempty (three) and Sorridere (seven).
“I will drive Sorridere, who is the best of the four,” said De Campo. “But he has an awkward draw.”
Sorridere has had 17 starts for five wins and eight placings. He has finished strongly at his two outings in his current campaign for excellent seconds to Lucca at Bunbury and Louie Dior at Gloucester Park last week.
Shannon Suvaljko will drive Magnus Victor, who has begun from the No. 1 barrier at his past two starts for all-the-way wins to boost his record to eight wins and six placings from 23 starts.
Dourado, who led when a last-start second to Louie Dior at Pinjarra, will be handled by Deni Roberts, and Trent Wheeler will drive the speedy but inexperienced Runningonempty, who impressed with his sparkling gate speed when he led and won by seven lengths from Soho Confidential at a 1.56.7 rate over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Tuesday of last week.
De Campo is confident that Sorridere will perform at his best, saying: “His two runs leading into this race were both quiet runs when he got to the line really strongly, with quick last halves.
“I can’t be happier with him, and my tactics will depend on what happens around us. Obviously, it is going to be hard to beat Never Ending. On ability, he has all his rivals covered, but he’s got to have to do some work at some stage.”
Trainer-reinsman Dylan Egerton-Green is looking forward for a strong effort from Rocket City, who has raced 19 times for six wins and eight placings and is favourably drawn at the No. 2 barrier on the back line.
“His seconds at his past two starts have been quite gallant,” he said. “Hopefully, he can get a nice run and play a part in the finish.”
The Katja Warwick-trained All Is Well will start from the inside of the back line and should enjoy an ideal passage behind the likely pacemaker Magnus Victor. The gelding, who will be driven by Chris Lewis, boasts a record of 27 starts for nine wins and eight placings.
The least experienced and only unbeaten runner in the field is trainer Annie Belton’s promising gelding Louie Dior, who will be driven by Ryan Bell and faces a stern test from the outside of the back line.