Never Ending makes his return this Friday night after a nine-month hiatus from the races, and for the Justin Prentice stables, there is a sense of relief to see the impressive five-year-old back at the races.
After finishing fifth in the Gr1 Golden Nugget in December 2024, the decision was made to send him to the paddock, but with things not quite right with the gelding when they attempted to bring him back, a lung wash procedure revealed that he was battling a bacterial infection.
“We just found after the Nugget he never seemed quite right, I thought maybe he was just a bit big in condition, coming back from Sydney, he was stuck over there and having to try and get him up on a shorter prep, he just never seemed quite right, and we ended up finding out he had a bacterial infection.”
Never Ending returned to trials at Pinjarra on September 10 where he finished third behind Lincoln Lou NZ and Swingband in 1:57:8 over the 2185m, beaten 6.3m when driven by Aiden De Campo.
Never Ending has been in the spotlight his entire career, unbeaten at all six appearacnes as a two-year-old, including features such as the Pearl Classic, Westbred Classic and the Golden Slipper, the pressure continued for Prentice into his three-year-old campaign when he was beaten just twice from eight starts.
“I didn’t really enjoy any of his races as a two-year-old, the whole unbeaten thing, everyone expected him to win.
“It was more just a relief than enjoyment.
“It sort of got to that stage as a three-year-old as well, where it wasn’t overly enjoyable, but I don’t think that expectation is on him anymore, theres other horses like Mister Smartee, Magnificent Storm and Minstrel that are a lot more proven than him.
“He still has to prove that he’s at their level, so I don’t think the pressure is on anymore, which is not a bad thing for me,
“The main thing is to just keep him healthy, and we can just see him back to the races and back to his best.”
Never Ending has drawn the widest on the front line this Friday night in the $31,000 7News Past Presidents Cup (2130m) where he likely to be driven conservatively by Jack Callaghan, who takes the steer this week.
Prentice did mention that it will take a few runs to get Never Ending in peak fitness, but he is very happy with the gelding, making mention that he has been a lot better to handle this preparation.
“I’m always a bit nervous with him, it’s not a matter of just going to the races and saying ‘I know he won’t hang and I know he won’t over-race, so it’s just a matter of seeing if he’s good enough.’
“His manners have always been his biggest query and you’re always a little bit more nervous sort of going to the races with him, hoping he’s not going to let himself down with his manners, but I am happy with him this time in, with everything that he’s doing at home.
“Generally, if he’s good at home, he will be good at the races, it’s not like he turns into a different horse at the races.
The countdown is on for the 2025 WA Pacing Cup and Prentice will be hoping that Never Ending can play a key part in the $450,000 final set for Friday, December 12 at Gloucester Park.
“The aim was just to get him back to the races because it’s been so long, it was the Nugget since he’s race, it’s getting reasonably close to being 12 months and it’s a long time to be away from the races at that level.
“The good thing is he hasn’t had anything seriously wrong where he’s been out for a long period of time, it just gives us plenty of time to give him some races and just see how he measures up.
“He’s new to that free-for-all level, his sort of first crack at it was the Nullarbor and those couple of races before we went to Sydney, where the Free-for-All level probably wasn’t sort of at its strongest through winter, so it always takes them a bit of time to get used to it, but I think that style of racing will suit him better, that faster tempo, more genuine speed.”
Image: Pacepix
Ashleigh Paikos