To understand this year’s Cup, you need only know the name of one horse.

Victoria Racing Club chairman Neil Wilson described Tuesday’s race as Incentivise versus the world and the bookies would agree. To find a shorter-odds favourite, you need to go back nearly a century to a horse named Phar Lap.

The rest of the world is a little light on this year, with only a handful of international raiders braving the tail end of pandemic travel restrictions and an exacting vetting regime to race in the Cup.

But the story of Incentivise, a once unfancied Queensland horse now on a nine-race winning streak, more than compensates for the lack of European riches.

“It gives us a chance to think you can still get a horse that is good enough for our greatest race without spending millions of dollars,” said Payne, who since retiring as a jockey has established a racing stable in Ballarat.

“I really hope he wins. It is such a great story and to have an Australian champion will really lift people’s spirits. Incentivise gives everyone hope for the future.”

Flemington will host a soft opening of 5500 people for Saturday’s Derby and then 10,000 people at each of the Cup, Oaks Day and Stakes Day meetings. Racegoers will be split into zones and, pending any last-minute scratchings of public health rules, will have to wear masks unless they are eating, drinking or stopping to smell the spectacular roses prepared by head gardener Mick Ryan.

Elsewhere around Melbourne and Victoria, life beyond the pandemic will start with chicken and champagne breakfasts, Cup Day barbeques and a late spring blooming of frocks, fascinators and silk kerchiefs.

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Since the first COVID case was detected in Melbourne early last year, the city’s reputation for putting on a show has taken a hammering, with major sporting, cultural and music events postponed, cancelled or staged elsewhere due to public health orders.

Victoria’s Racing and Major Events Minister Martin Pakula said “fabulous Flemington” is the perfect place for Melbourne and Victoria to declare that we are back.

“It is impossible to overstate how important it is that when the vision of Flemington is broadcast to the nation and to the world over the four days of the Flemington carnival, that [it has a] feeling of buzz with a crowd, with punters with people enjoying themselves,” he said.

Racing is one of the few industries that ran uninterrupted throughout the pandemic, with more than 800 meets and nearly 7000 races staged in Victoria since March last year. Although this kept participants employed and punters happy, there was no place more lonely than the empty grandstands of Flemington.

Waterhouse said some bums on seats is just the tonic.

“It is what we need. It’s the lifeblood. It keeps people sane,” she said.

After all, “we are herd creatures, just like horses.”

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