Steve Farley will play his ace card of the spring when he puts blinkers on Sincero in Saturday’s Cox Plate.

Farley has been waiting all campaign to use the gear change, the same move which reaped a Group One win in the Stradbroke Handicap last year.

Sincero also had blinkers applied for the first time in his preparation in last year’s Cox Plate (2040m) but he could only manage ninth to Pinker Pinker.

“Last year was a very big learning curve for the horse and myself,” Farley said.

“He really came off a long campaign (last year) going to Brisbane for the winter and then through the Sydney spring and then to Melbourne.

“This year we’ve focused on one race and at this stage he’s been ticking over nicely. He’s the forgotten horse at the moment.”

Blinkers are worn by horses to minimise peripheral vision and to help them concentrate.

Farley said Sincero can “float around” a bit in his races and they would “sharpen him up”.

Sincero had blinkers on in his trackwork hitout at Tuesday morning’s Breakfast with the Best at Moonee Valley and jockey Michael Rodd expects them to help his mount’s chances.

“They fired him up just then (in his gallop) but it’s what he needs,” Rodd said.

“The other day (third in the Caulfield Stakes) when I asked him to quicken he was just left a bit flat-footed and I can’t have that in a Cox Plate. I’ve got to have him ready to go.

“That will just give us that sort of extra edge.”

Sincero’s chances were dealt a blow when he drew wide in barrier 12 on Tuesday and he has eased in revised markets from $17 to $26.