In the dark depths of the pandemic, harness racing lost much of its essence with Kiwi participation in our biggest races grinding to a halt.

So many of our biggest and best races through recent history have included superstars New Zealanders winning or adding another dimension to them.

What doesn’t get as much credit as it should, is the value of having a star WA horse in the mix, too.

Eastern-staters, especially Victorians for some reason, are quick to shoot down WA form.

Even the great Im Themightyquinn had to continually prove himself before the greater Australian industry, make that Australasian industry, finally warmed to the fact he was a champion … an all-time great in fact.

Three Inter Dominions and countless other major wins across two countries and many different cities would earn you that.

It’s been a while since Quinny, as he was affectionately known, dominated with those three Inter Dominion wins and three Australian Horse of the Year titles from 2011-13.

Best known for his explosive speed, Quinny joined WA greats like Baltic Eagle, Jack Morris, Village Kid, Preux Chevalier and, before them Pure Steel, San Simeon and Satinover, to star on a national and/or international stage.

WA was due another superstar and it could have one in four-year-old Never Ending.

The four-year-old has oozed X-factor since he first started racing, but the doubters have continually sighted his rawness, want to “run around” in his race and tendency to over race, often quite badly, as issues that could bring him down at the very top level.

They are all something his meticulous young trainer Justin Prentice has been mindful of.

And Prentice, with valuable feedback from regular driver Gary Hall Jr at times, has been working on them, but gradually and in tune with Never Ending’s development.

One step at a time, as they say.

Never Ending’s sparkling winning return in last Friday night’s $50,000 Group 3 Winter Cup at Gloucester Park showed the results of Prentice’s work and patience.

The strongly built son of Sweet Lou looked much closer to a “complete package” than he ever has before.

And the timing couldn’t be better.

The world’s richest harness race, the $2.1mil TAB Eureka is just around the corner and Never Ending should be favourite now.

He’s got the right mix of speed and strength for a tough 2300m race at Menangle and everything about him says the spacious track – compared to the much smaller Gloucester Park – is made for him.

Prentice said as much: “You’d imagine going to Menangle with that big straight will really suit him.”

For all of Im Themightyquinn’s greatness, it was a trip to Menangle which really iced his greatness and silenced all doubters.

And it is Menangle which could be Never Ending’s launching pad to super stardom.

The synergies go deeper with Hall Jr, who drove Im Themightyquinn so superbly through his career, counting down the days of his suspension to get back aboard Never Ending.

The TAB Eureka is in just its second year and Never Ending will be the first WA-trained runner.

He is an all-WA package with Rob Watson’s Soho Standardbreds using its slot to back in the young star.

Never Ending - with Prentice and Hall Jr in his corner - is the horse I want to be on right now.

The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.