Incentivise Supporters Ahead of The Curve

On Saturday at Flemington, Incentivise (Shamus Award) had every right to provide a cautionary tale to the narrative that he's the biggest thing since sliced bread. An on-again, off-again, on -again move from ex-trainer and part-owner Steve Tregea's Toowoomba base to an unfamiliar Peter Moody stable at Pakenham, and a 1400m distance that's too short for him were just the start. Facing genuine Group 1 competition, and doing the donkey work down the long Flemington straight where he was racing for the first time were other pertinent factors. And yet, in the days leading up to the Makybe Diva Stakes, the money went on at $7.50, and kept coming until the bookies were forced to wind him into around equal favourite with three-time Group 1 heroine Tofane. Brett Prebble, enjoying a purple patch of form, had attempted to give Incentivise a breather approaching the turn, but that would have been little consolation to his supporters when the cavalry started closing a long way from home. To have finished close-up would have been no disgrace, and yet the 5YO gelding just refused to lie down, courageously holding out Mo'Unga (Savabeel), Sir Dragonet (Galileo) and Tofane (Ocean Park) – who all ran belters. Perhaps the Melbourne Cup (3200m) might prove a bridge too far, but the Caulfield Cup (2400m) now beckons. And, with cash filling their pockets, the Makybe Diva plunge profiteers will be lining up for more.