Never Ending maintains unbeaten record with stunning Pearl Classic triumph

Class two-year-old Never Ending retained an unbeaten record when reinsman Gary Hall drove him to brilliantly win the $100,000 Group 1 Pearl Classic Final (2130m) at Gloucester Park on Friday night.

The $1.30 favourite scored by 5m in his fourth victory and he headed a quinella for young Boyanup trainer Justin Prentice, who also prepares runner-up Valedictorian ($5).

A Prentice family trifecta was delivered when Crowd Control ($14.40), trained and driven by Justin’s father Kim, fought on to finish third.

Hall drove Never Ending aggressively from gate three, took up front running within 400m of starting and the bay went on to rate 1:56.3.

“Never Ending has won at each of his four starts, but isn’t easy to train and is immature,” Justin Prentice said.

“It’s taken a lot to teach him about racing and he’s still learning.

“However, he’s potentially the best youngster I’ve trained. I’ll see how he pulls up before deciding on his next start.

“His main immediate targets are the Westbred Classic and Golden Slipper.”

The $225,000 Westbred Classic will be run at Gloucester Park on September 16, a fortnight ahead of the $150,000 Golden Slipper Pace.

Never Ending, owned by a syndicate, looks set to be a force in major events including the WA Derby as a three-year-old.

Valedictorian, who battled courageously for reinsman Dylan Egerton-Green after racing outside Never Ending in the Pearl, is also a Westbred and Golden Slipper candidate.

Four-year-old Lavra Joe, driven by champion reinsman Chris, coasted to a front running victory in the $50,000 August Cup (2536m) earlier on Friday night.

Starting a $1.20 favourite, he rated 1:59.1 and beat runner-up Gambit ($25.90) by 6m.

Diego ($23.50) charged home from ninth position to finish third.

Greenbushes owner-trainer Ray Jones said Lavra Joe, a winner at 24 of 40 starts, would probably run in a free-for-all next Friday night.

“At our summer carnival, he should be hard to beat if drawing well in the Golden Nugget,” Jones said.

“I’ll also enter him in the Fremantle Cup and WA Pacing Cup.”

Jones bought Lavra Joe for $22,000 after he was passed in at a yearling sale and his stake-earnings total almost $400,000.