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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t really enjoy any of his races as a two-year-old, the whole unbeaten thing, everyone expected him to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was more just a relief than enjoyment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sort of got to that stage as a three-year-old as well, where it wasn\u2019t overly enjoyable, but I don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe still has to prove that he\u2019s at their level, so I don\u2019t think the pressure is on anymore, which is not a bad thing for me, <\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing is to just keep him healthy, and we can just see him back to the races and back to his best.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always a bit nervous with him, it\u2019s not a matter of just going to the races and saying \u2018I know he won\u2019t hang and I know he won\u2019t over-race, so it\u2019s just a matter of seeing if he\u2019s good enough.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cHis manners have always been his biggest query and you\u2019re always a little bit more nervous sort of going to the races with him, hoping he\u2019s not going to let himself down with his manners, but I am happy with him this time in, with everything that he\u2019s doing at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cGenerally, if he\u2019s good at home, he will be good at the races, it\u2019s not like he turns into a different horse at the races. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe aim was just to get him back to the races because it\u2019s been so long, it was the Nugget since he\u2019s race, it\u2019s getting reasonably close to being 12 months and it\u2019s a long time to be away from the races at that level.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe good thing is he hasn\u2019t had anything seriously wrong where he\u2019s 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. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s 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\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n