WA gun Never Ending faces Menangle litmus test before TAB Eureka

Boom WA pacer Never Ending will be out to justify TAB Eureka favouritism when he steps out at Menangle for the first time on Saturday night.

Eureka favourite Never Ending heads to Menangle on Saturday night.

Boom WA pacer Never Ending will be out to justify TAB Eureka favouritism when he steps out at Menangle for the first time on Saturday night.

But trainer Justin Prentice has stressed his stable star won’t need to win to prove he’s on target.

“It’s a harder race than I expected it would be,” he said.

“It looks as strong as the TAB Eureka will be and he’s drawn the outside (gate 10), too.

“Realistically, it’ll be hard for him to win from out there, especially with the huge wraps on Major Moth, who will probably work to the lead from his draw.

“It’s as much about getting a run into him and giving him experience around the (big) track for the first time.

“As it stands, we’ve left all the gear on him he races in around the smaller (Gloucester Park) track at home, but we might change some of it for the Eureka depending on how this week’s race goes.”

Prentice is thrilled WA champion and regular driver Gary Hall Jr is getting the “red eye” flight from Perth to Sydney to partner Never Ending on Saturday.

“It shows his commitment. He’s driven the horse his whole career, except for the past few runs while he’s been suspended, but he’s vital,” he said.

“I’ll be leaning heavily on what ‘Junior’ has to say after the warm-up and the race itself this week.

“We’ve come across really early and planned this lead-up race so we’ve got a couple of weeks before the big one to make any adjustments we might need.”

Prentice said it has only been the past few days where Never Ending has brightened up.

“He’s taken longer than I thought to settle-in, but he’s basically never left my place for three years apart from going to his races back home,” he said.

“He’s really starting to just seem himself again now, so I’m glad we did come across so early.”

Never Ending, who has the Soho Standardbreds slot, is one of five confirmed TAB Eureka runners racing tonight (Saturday).

The Brad Hewitt-trained Captains Knock is among Never Ending’s rivals at Menangle, while The Lost Storm, Major Delight and Bay Of Biscay all have their final lead-up races at Melton.

Bay Of Biscay became the second confirmed three-year-old runner in the TAB Eureka when he snared the Kevin and Kay Seymour slot on Wednesday. The other is Jess Tubbs’ Fighter Command.

The only official remaining slot in the 10-horse TAB Eureka is TAB, who will use next Saturday’s Racenet Discovery Stakes to choose its runner.

But doubts still linger of The Lost Storm in the Aaron Bain Racing & Summit Bloodstock slot.

After two flops, his performance at Melton on Friday night will be crucial.

* Adam Hamilton is a paid contributor writing on harness racing for News Corp

Originally published as WA gun Never Ending faces Menangle litmus test before TAB Eureka