Never Ending Photo by Pacepix
CHAMPION driver Gary Hall Jr believes exciting young pacer Never Ending could be the Leap To Fame of this year's $2.1mil TAB Eureka.
Although Leap To Fame didn't win the world's richest race, it springboarded him into arguably the most dominant 12 months a pacer has had Down Under.
Since his second to Encipher in the inaugural TAB Eureka, Leap To Fame has raced 21 times for 18 wins, a second, a third and a desperately unlucky fourth. His wins have included four of the sport's marquee races: Inter Dominion final, Miracle Mile, Hunter Cup and Blacks A Fake.
Just as Leap To Fame was the headline horse last year, Never Ending carries that tag into this year's TAB Eureka on September 7.
"I'm not saying he'll be another Leap To Fame, but he might be the best we've ever seen, but I do think this race could be a launching pad for some great things from Never Ending," Hall Jr said.
"I think this horse has the potential to be one of the greats, especially with his turn of foot, and he's developing a degree of toughness as he goes along, too."
"To think he's got the attributes to take it all the way."
But Hall also moved to quell expectations to some extent ahead of the TAB Eureka.
"This race isn't the be-all and end-all of his career, but it looks like a good opportunity to show the exciting direction he's headed in."
"He's always been a bit of a slow burn despite his amazing sheer talent, and I still think the best could be six or even 12 months down the track for him."
"But I think I've driven and seen enough good ones to say he's taking all the right steps towards being elite."
Hall Jr, 42, has driven almost 4000 winners, including 65 at Group 1 level, and his drives have banked over $A51 million.
Much of it has been in his own backyard in Western Australia, which is so remote from the rest of Australia's major harness racing.
It was a pacer called Im Themightyquinn who really burst Hall Jr out of that bubble and stamped him as a genuine Australasian superstar.
Im Themightyquinn, a compact son of Washington VC, raced 11 times for 58 wins, 34 placings and banked almost $A4.6 million – putting him a close second to Blacks A Fake as the richest all-time pacer Down Under.
Amongst his plethora of major wins, it was Im Themightyquinn's three consecutive Inter Dominion victories – in three different cities and across two countries – that cemented his greatness.
He is firmly in the top half dozen pacers – many would even higher – that we've seen Down Under.
And it was at Menangle, where the TAB Eureka was run where Hall Jr teamed with Im Themightyquinn – or "Quinny" to his legion of fans - for his career-defining win in the 2013 Inter Dominion final.
"If you're asking the most satisfying win I've had, the one that really meant the most, it's that Menangle win with Quinny," Hall Jr said.
"I never thought anything would top winning the Inter Dominion at home in Perth the year before … on that small track, in front of the huge crowd, with all my mates and family there."
"But Menangle did, and it's because of what it meant to Quinny and, I guess, the pressure I felt under, too."
"I drove myself mad before that final. The track (1400m) was so different to Gloucester Park (half a mile). I had no idea what I was going to do or how I was going to drive him. It felt like my first drive in a race."
"In the end, I just had to trust myself and the horse and drive the race as it played out."
Im Themightyquinn, one of the fastest pacers we've seen Down Under, stormed home from a seemingly hopeless position to win running away.
It propelled him from a great horse to an immortal. It's THE race that puts him up with the greatest of all time."
"It silenced the doubters too, and there were still some," Hall Jr said.
"I remember it was just me with the horse down in the stalls and this lady walked up. You could tell she wanted to talk to me."
"She was quite emotional when she leant over the fence and said, 'I just want to apologise. I was one of those who doubted him. I'm sorry I did. I needed to tell you that."
"It made me quite emotional. I nearly cried with her. It also showed him just how important a win was, and it's always stayed with me."
"Quinny obviously stands on a pedestal with me. I've driven some other really good ones, but it's Quinny and the rest."
"If I'm right, Never Ending has the potential to give me that sort of feeling again. I'm not sure I'll ever have another Quinny, I hope I do, but once really close would do me, too."
Hall Jr has driven Never Ending in 19 of his 22 starts, missing only his first three this campaign due to a controversial six-week suspension.
"It's been frustrating at times, but it's also been great to see him come back so well. Justin (Prentice) has driven him so well, too," he said.
"He's taken all the right steps, the ones we wanted him too."
"His free-for-all runs have been really good, and it's always hard to take that step after being so dominant in their age group racing and trying to maintain that level of dominance."
"They get put outside their comfort zone for the first time. They get driven differently and don't get things handed to them."
"I think he's handled it really well, and he should continue to get better at being driven differently and with different racing patterns. It's been pretty good to watch, to be honest."
Hall Jr's excitement grew further when he was reunited with Never Ending in his final lead-up race for a slashing at Menangle last night (Saturday).
"He felt as good as Justin said has been," he said. "To come from last, get some interference on the final bend and make up the ground he did was a fantastic effort."
"It's the best feeling I've had on a horse in the finishing stages of a race since Quinny."
Hall Jr is renowned for his laconic nature, so it's no surprise that driving in the world's richest race won't faze him.
"I won't actually think about it much. Once you get out there, it's just another race with another job to do."
"He looks like he's going to have a really good shot at this race."
