Never Ending Poised To Break Through
“It’s been a long road, and we just want to see him as good as we know he can be,” said trainer Justin Prentice when discussing former superstar Never Ending’s prospects of breaking a 25-month drought when he contests the $31,000 WATA Members Sprint over 1730m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Six-year-old Never Ending has a losing sequence of 14 and he has managed just one placing from his past ten starts, and though he has finished an eighth and a seventh at his first two runs in his current campaign Prentice is confident the WA-bred gelding will break through for a much-anticipated victory.
He has drawn favourably at barrier two and star reinsman Gary Hall Jnr will be anxious to use his good gate speed in a bid to set the pace and go on to win the race.
“This is the first good draw he has had for quite a while,” said Prentice. “Regarding his two runs in this preparation it has been hard to get a gauge on how he is going because he has sat back in last place.
“Times indicate he went really well, and Junior (Hall) has been happy with the way he has felt. Never Ending’s work has been better over the past fortnight than it has been throughout this preparation.
“I don’t talk tactics with Junior, but I expect he will want to come out (at the start). During Never Ending’s previous preparation he put in some good runs and some disappointing ones. Since he returned from Sydney two years ago, he has had health issues, and it has been hard for him to get over them.”
Never Ending began out wide at barrier No. 8 last Friday week when he raced in last position in a field of eleven before fighting on solidly to finish seventh behind Magnificent Storm, who rated 1.54.6 over 2130m after dashing over the final 400m sections in 27.5sec. and 27.2sec.
Adding considerable interest in Friday night’s race will be the appearance of Harrison John, who will be making his Australian debut after having raced 34 times in New Zealand for seven wins, eight seconds, four thirds and $226,975 in prizemoney.
Harrison John, who will be driven by Deni Roberts for champion trainers Greg and Skye Bond, will start from the No. 6 barrier. He is a sprint specialist, having rated 1.52.8 in winning over 1609m at Addington in April last year, as well as winning over 1700m at Ashburton and four times over 1980m at Addington. His other victory was in a 2600m stand.
“I haven’t sat behind Harrison John yet, and from what I have seen of him he looks a very nice horse,” said Roberts. “I hadn’t driven Minstrel before I drove him in a race for the first time (when he finished a half-length second to Glenledi Chief in a 2536m Free-For-All on February 24, 2023).”
Star pacer Penny Black, the only mare in the field of twelve, is sure to be prominent, following her excellent second to Delightful Peg over 2130m last Friday night when racing second-up after a spell. She will begin from barrier four for trainer Michael Young and driver Emily Suvaljko.
Champion trainer Gary Hall Snr has three runners in the race, with his best prospect expected to be Sweet Pins, to be driven by Stuart McDonald. Sweet Pins, who will start from the inside of the back line, ran home strongly from seventh at the bell to finish third behind Magnificent Storm and Soho Shakedown last Friday night.
Hall’s other runners face tough tasks from wide draws, with Youre So Fine (Dylan Egerton-Green) at No. 8, and Alta Tribute (Maddison Brown) at No. 9.
Our Twinkle Is A Star
Inexperienced four-year-old Our Twinkle is showing signs of developing into a star performer, and ace trainer-reinsman Aiden De Campo declares him as his best winning prospect at Gloucester Park on Friday night when he will be in action in nine of the ten events.
Our Twinkle looks set to complete a winning hat-trick when he begins from the No. 4 barrier in the 2130m Graham Whitton Pace. The Ultimate Machete gelding won at his final appearance in New Zealand, and then was successful at his Australian debut, at Northam last Saturday night.
De Campo, who has drive100 winners this season, said: “Our Twinkle has a lot of ability, but it might take him a few runs to get used to the WA style of racing.
“The big fella was probably a bit relaxed at Northam, but he got the job done, and I expect him to improve on that first-up run. He has a decent barrier to drive him positively.”
Our Twinkle began from barrier three on the back line in the 2190m event at Northam when he raced wide early, overcame a slight check after 100m and settled down in seventh position before moving to the breeze after about 550m.
He appeared quite lazy in the final circuit and De Campo had to drive hard to urge him to the front in the home straight before beating the pacemaker True Grit by a half-length, rating 1.58.1 after final quarters of 29.3sec., 29.9sec. and 28.7sec.
That was his first start since he scored a convincing victory over 2400m at the Central Southland Raceway in Winton on May this year when he began from the back line and was ninth at the bell before sprinting fast to burst to the front with 700m to travel and win by more than a length from Mr Cash Man.
Our Twinkle was most impressive three starts before that with a runaway victory at a 1.56.5 rate over 2200m at Invercargill on April 2. He began from the back line and was eighth at the bell before dashing forward brilliantly to burst to the lead in the back straight and careering away to beat Putere Boy by 17 lengths after a final 400m in 27.5sec.
Our Twinkle’s main rivals on Friday night are expected to be Curadh, Franco Mecca and The Beaudster.
Curadh, trained and driven by Dylan Egerton-Green, will start from barrier six. He began from the No. 7 barrier in a 2130m event last Friday night when he dashed to the front after 250m and was kept honest by the breeze horse Brought To Light before wilting slightly and finishing second to the fast-finishing Hold The Ammo.
Franco Mecca caught the eye with a strong first-up performance last Friday night when he raced three back on the pegs before surging home to finish second to Getn Wiggy Withit over 1730m. He will begin from the No. 5 barrier.
The Beaudster, to be driven by Tom Nally for trainer Cody Wallrodt, will be having his first start for 21 months when he begins from the favourable No. 2 barrier. He finished a sound second to Girl Of Brightness in a 2150m trial at Byford last Saturday morning.
Roberts Praises Our Crunch Time
Soho Shakedown will be all the rage for the Bob Ridgers Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night, but ace driver Deni Roberts is in no mood to concede defeat, explaining that Our Crunch Time is in peak form and is ready to run a big race.
Soho Shakedown, to be driven by Abbey Vidovich for trainer Kim Prentice, is favourably drawn at barrier No. 3, with Our Crunch Time somewhat awkwardly drawn at barrier five.
Much will depend on the start, with Full Swing Denario (barrier one) and Gully Gum (barrier two) both speedy beginners and successful frontrunners.
Soho Shakedown has resumed after a spell in grand style, leading from barrier one and winning from Lucca over 2130m three Fridays ago, and then holding up from the No. 1 barrier to set the pace for the first 500m before taking the sit behind superstar Magnificent Storm and running home strongly to finish a 2m second to that pacer in last Friday night’s August Cup.
Our Crunch Time, trained by Greg and Skye Bond, finished a last-start seventh behind Alta Allure over 2130m last Friday week, but he appeared a certainty beaten. He began swiftly from the No. 7 barrier before being restrained to the rear.
He was last in the field of ten at the bell and was still in last place 250m from home before being switched out wide. But he was hopelessly blocked for a clear passage in the home straight.
At his previous outing, a fortnight earlier, he began from barrier seven and raced four wide early before being restrained to gain the perfect one-out, one-back position. He was switched three wide with 600m to travel and finished strongly to get to the front on the home turn on the way to winning by a half-head from Soho Moonraker, rating 1.56.5.
“This horse is airborne at the moment, and I expect I’ll be driving him positively,” said Roberts. “I think he is right up there.”
Our Crunch Time and Soho Shakedown are emerging as strong candidates for the rich feature events for four-year-olds later in the year, and their rivals on Friday night include in-form veteran performers Machnificent (barrier nine) and Ima Fivestar General (inside of the back line).
The Bonds should also be at the fore in the Tom Davies Pace over 2130m in which they have three of the nine runners, Kinky (Liam Eliott; barrier one), Captainshavtime (Roberts; barrier three) and Captains Creek (Kyle Symington; barrier eight).
Roberts has given punters a good lead by choosing to handle Captainshavtime, saying the mare who has a losing sequence of eight, had sound winning prospects.
“She is going really good but has had no luck, having back-line draws (at her past two starts),” she said. “She is a frontrunner and I think I will be driving her fairly positive, and she will go really good in front.”
Captains Creek has the ability to overcome his wide draw and figure in the finish. He did himself no favours by overracing in front in the 3309m Marathon Handicap last Friday week when he faded to finish fifth behind Luvbite.
The main danger to the Bond runners looks certain to be the Katie Howlett-trained five-year-old Brought To Light, who will start from the No. 7 barrier with Chris Voak in the sulky.
Brought To Light has been most consistent in his brief career of 20 starts for five wins and nine placings. He had a tough run without cover when a fighting third behind Hold The Ammo and Curadh over 2130m last Friday night.
Boy Blue Back In Action
Promising young pacer Boy Blue, a winner at six of his 14 starts, will resume racing after a 12-week break when he has an awkward draw at barrier seven in the 2130m Maureen McKercher Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
But trainer-reinsman Chris Voak is bubbling and full of confidence about the New Zealand-bred’s winning prospects, saying: “I’m sure he is capable of winning from anywhere on Friday night.
“He is strong, fit, and super-fast, and I expect him to win unless they go1.54 flat and he has to sit parked. He has been working better than he has ever before, and his first-up record is good.
“This is a good first-up assignment, and obviously he is heading for the four-year-old features. As a three-year-old he led and held out Sweet Pins in fast time (last October when he won at a 1.55.4 rate and Sweet Pins faded to fifth), and since then Sweet Pins has gone up to Free-For-Alls.
“His work at home has been sensational and he is a lot stronger than he was during his previous preparation.”
Boy Blue will be having his first start since he was the $1.65 favourite from the outside of the back line when he covered a lot of extra ground and faded to finish last behind Luvbite over 2536m on June 5.
“Post race I found out that Boy Blue was suffering from a bad virus, and he went straight out for a spell. He is only lightly raced, and he was much more mentally and physically immature during his previous preparations,” said Voak.
“Now with the racing and a lot of hard work under his belt we have improved his constitution to a level that he is going to take that next step.”
An interesting runner in the opening event on Friday night is former South Australian three-year-old Signature Look, who will start from the outside barrier in the field of eight for trainer Michael Young.
Signature Look, who will be driven by Shannon Suvaljko, did not race as a two-year-old, but has shown promise this year with his seven starts producing six wins and a third placing.
Signature Look warmed up for his WA debut with a smart win in a 2185m Pinjarra trial on Wednesday of last week when he beat Sweet Coco by two lengths, rating 1.55.9 after final quarters of 28.7sec., 29sec. and 27.4sec.
Young also will be represented in Friday night’s race by Patriarch and War Crime.
Patriarch looks well suited from barrier two after winning a 2185m trial on Wednesday of last week when he rated 1.56.7 after final 400m sections of 2.3sec. and 27.3sec. He will be driven by Emily Suvaljko.
War Cry, who raced 13 times in New Zealand for one win (at his most recent appearance, at Cambridge on May 7) and eight placings, will be driven by Aiden De Campo.
The Young stable runners will surely be tested by the brilliant D Mac, who is trained by Gary Hall Snr and will be driven by Gary Hall Jnr. The New Zealand-bred gelding, a smart all-the-way last-start winner last Friday week, has the class to overcome an awkward barrier at No. 5.
