The lightly raced five-year-old continued his barnstorming run with a first group 1 triumph in theMakybe Diva Stakes over 1600 metres at Flemington on Saturday under jockey-of-the-moment Brett Prebble .
The combination produced a front-running display which will have sent shivers down the spines of potential Cup rivals,so impressive was the performance.
Incentivise arrived at Moody’s stable in the depths of winter with a massive boom,having won six on the spin during the Queensland carnival,his sequence beginning with a win in a maiden over 1600 metres at the Sunshine Coast in April before concluding with an unheard-of 12-length triumph in group 3 company in the Tattersalls Cup at Eagle Farm.
Two of the country’s biggest owners,Ozzie Kheir andBrae Sokolski,then bought a stake in the horse and,with the agreement of former trainer and still part-owner Steve Tregea,moved the son of Shamus Award to Moody for a cups preparation.
That now looks like an inspired piece of business and a shrewd decision.
It was Incentivise’s first attempt at the highest level over a trip that,on paper,should have been well short of his best.
This was no gimme group 1 full of second-grade or unfit horses:second home was Mo’unga, who had won the group 1 Winx Stakes in Sydney last time out,while the fast-finishing third was last year’s Cox Plate heroSir Dragonet, with multiple group 1-winning mare Tofane fourth.