TREGEA'S HOT RUN CONTINUES

By Graham Potter | Saturday, July 31, 2021

Steve Tregea’s amazing touch as a trainer continued unabated at Eagle Farm where he bookended the meeting with Champagne Aunty and Eloquently.

Eloquently underlined both her burgeoning ability and her mental toughness when taking out a QTIS Three-Year-Old Fillies Handicap in the last race on the card.

The three-year-old daughter of Poet’s Voice was on the seven-day back-up after beating the useful Miami Fleiss last week. She was stepping up in distance from 1050m to 1300m and she was rising in weight from 56kg to 59kg.

Any one of those factors could have caught out a horse of lesser quality, but instead Eloquently strode to yet another eye-catching victory … which was no less than her sixth win in a row.

Her unbeaten run dates back to April 21, when she won her Maiden at her fourth attempt, and her last three wins have come in just the last twenty-one days. Again, that speaks of her ability and toughness, but it also serves as a compliment to Tregea’s placing of his horses which he does so well.

The difficulty, if you can call it that, is for Tregea to be able to keep his rising stars.

Just recently Tregea sold a half share in Incentivise after that gelding had won four in a row. Incentivise famously then went on to won two more races under Tregea’s care by massive margins (the last win was by twelve lengths) which saw him installed as the early favourite for the Melbourne Cup. Incentivise has since moved to the Peter Moody yard to prepare for his big assignments in Victoria.

So, it would be a big surprise if Tregea is not already fielding offers for Eloquently. Luckily for the local industry, Incentivise stayed in Australia … but the weight of money from Hong Kong buyers, who Tregea has dealt with before, could well have a say in the future of this rising star.

Tregea continues to remain loyal to jockey Anthony Allen, who guided Eloquently to her latest victory. Allen was aboard Incentivise in five of his six straight wins and he has now ridden Eloquently in four of her six successive victories.

Allen’s profile has deservedly been very much on the rise in the last three months and it is very much to his credit the way he has handled both these horses and himself during this time.

Tregea and Allen have a relationship that goes back a while … and it is clearly one that looks set to continue into the future.

For the record, Champagne Aunty, Tregea’s other winner on the day, scored her fourth win from thirteen career starts. The four-year-old mare started at the restrictive odds of $1.80 and won by 0.75 lengths … while those who stuck fast with Eloquently would have been happy with her $2.80 starting price.