Never Ending hits Eureka jackpot

Star pacer Never Ending will line up in the second edition of The Eureka (2400m) at Menangle later this year.

Never Ending's connections, including trainer Justin Prentice, came to an agreement with Soho Standardbreds' Robert Watson for the gelding to run in the slot.

The gelding has built up a formidable record of 12 wins from 14 starts in his career to date, the most recent of them was a runner-up effort behind Skylou in the WA Derby last November.

Prentice said he was excited to have a runner capable of lining up in the $2.1 million event.

"There was a lot of talk about last year's event and there was a big build up to it," Prentice told The Trots WA.

"I had a chat to Rob (Watson) on Golden Nugget night last year and he said to me it's a great event to be a part of.

"It was great to get the interest from him and the feeling of the WA guys sticking together adds more excitement to it."

Never Ending will be the first WA-trained horse to line up in the Eureka, which was taken out by Encipher last year.

Regular driver Gary Hall Jnr is expected to travel and drive the son of Sweet Lou.

Prentice is no stranger to travelling horses to Menangle, having prepared Mighty Ronaldo to run third in the 2022 APG 4YO Gold Bullion.

Prentice said the experience of two years ago would help him when he travelled Never Ending.

"That was one of the things Junior told me when I spoke to him about taking Mighty Ronaldo over," he said.

"He told me to take him so if I had the chance to travel over for a bigger occasion at least I have done it before.

"It was good taking a horse like Mighty Ronaldo over there because there wasn't a great expectation on him to win.

"Junior also knows Menangle and Never Ending better than anyone, so that's the plan at this stage."

Never Ending is expected to return to racing next month and looms as a key contender for JP Pacing's Nullarbor slot.

While Never Ending is the headline act for Prentice, he could be joined in Sydney by stablemate Rolling Fire, who made a winning return at Gloucester Park last Friday.

The son of Roll With Joe sat outside Ideal Tomado and proved too classy on return in SEFS – The Asset Finance Specialists Pace (2130m).

Prentice said he would like to take Rolling Fire if his form warranted it.

"I would love to take him over if we could," he said.

"He hasn't done anything wrong.

"He hasn't had the boom on him that Never Ending has and hasn't had the good draws in the big races."

Meanwhile, Prentice indicated he hoped to start Tricky Miki, Mighty Ronaldo and Jawsoflincoln in this Friday's $50,000 Lord Mayors Cup at Gloucester Park.


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