INCENTIVISE will attempt to become the first horse since the New Zealand mare Ethereal in 2001 to complete the Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double after his Caulfield Cup demolition. With successive Group 1 wins encouraging punters to see him off at $2.80, the only real challenge for Incentivise was negotiating the outside barrier 18.

Cautious

With Delphi on his inside, it was a cautious run down the straight the first time with Brett Prebble happy to travel five-wide through the first bend as Damien Oliver proved to be proactive allowing Delphi to continue forward and find the lead allowing Prebble to get the soft trail and land in the one-out and one-back position.

From that point, almost halfway into the 2,400-metre Group 1, Prebble simply rode Incentivise as the best horse in the race. Working his way to the front at the top of the straight, the Shamus Award gelding simply ground his rivals into the turf. Delphi weakened out of it, as Nonconformist and Persan were honest in defeat, the Rebel Raider gelding Nonconformist almost four lengths in arrears with the Pierro gelding Persan a further length back in third. The dual Group 1-winning mare Montefilia claimed fourth with the Irish-bred Great House fifth.

Awkward draw

“It was pretty exciting. It was an awkward draw. There are 17 other jockeys and they’ve all got their own opinion on how the race is going to be run,” said Prebble.

“He doesn’t over-race, he doesn’t waste his energy like some of the others do. He came off the bridle a bit sooner than I would have liked. I showed him the whip before the home turn. All that is telling me is look out Melbourne Cup. He is going to eat up the 3,200 metres. He is exciting. He is probably one of the most exciting horses I’ve ridden.”

Moody’s first

The win for trainer Peter Moody was his first major Cups win despite being a multiple Premier Trainer in Melbourne. “It’s unbelievable,” said Moody. “Caulfield was my home for 16 or 17 years and trained a couple of thousand winners here. Never this one, very important to win it. Very grateful for the opportunity thanks to Brae Sokolski and Ozzie Kehir. They planted the seed, purchased the horse and recommended that he come to my yard. A big thanks to Steve Tregea – the former trainer, owner and breeder of this horse. Big shout out to everyone in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs. This one is for you.”

A little over a year ago, Incentivise debuted at Ipswich with an inglorious ninth. At his fourth start in April he won his maiden on the Sunshine Coast, from there it is a picket fence, nine straight wins. His next start will be the Melbourne Cup where, for which he is already a short priced $2,30 elect with the next best, Spanish Mission at $7.

Penalty

The only caveat for Incentivise will be the 57kg he must carry following his 1.5kg penalty. “I suppose it is fair,” said Moody. “I would have preferred nothing at all, but I don’t think we’ll be throwing the toys out of the cot.”

Since Gold And Black carried 57kg to win the 1977 Melbourne Cup, 68 horses have carried that weight or greater with 10 of them running a place and just one winner, Makybe Diva (58) in 2005.