Baraqiel earns Group 1 shot after McEwen Stakes demolition at The Valley

Late bloomer Baraqiel will step up to Group 1 company after a dominant win in the Group 2 McEwen Stakes at The Valley.

Exciting sprinter Baraqiel made it six wins from eight starts and earned himself a crack at a Group 1 after producing a runaway victory in the Group 2 McEwen Stakes (1200m), capping off a black-type double for trainers Troy and Leon Corstens and Will Larkin on Cox Plate day.

Troy Corstens was mobbed by the group of owners after Baraqiel – a lightly-raced son of champion sire Snitzel who has overcome multiple tendon injuries – demolished an experienced bunch of sprinters to earn even loftier goals in the future.

It came just a few races after stablemate Bittercreek saluted in the Group 3 Red Anchor Stakes (1200m) to earn his own crack at the Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington next Saturday.

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Franking the class of the performance, Baraqiel broke Miss Andretti’s class record which has stood for almost 18 years.

The win guaranteed Baraqiel a slot in the $1m inaugural Meteorite at Cranbourne on November 23, but Larkin suggested a Group 1 was the most enticing option going forward.

“When you’re running for any prize money like that it’s definitely exciting, it’s a good concept they’ve put on (Southside Racing),” Larkin said.

“It’s going to be an option, but I think off the back of that, a Group 1 is probably going to be in the forefront of our minds at the moment. Where he goes to, it’s exciting, you look in the calendar there’s so many good races for him and to sit there and put a line around a big Group 1, that is pretty special.”

A star is born. ⭐️

Baraqiel trots in the McEwen! 😱@MaluaRacing@[e-mail]/bhrtvcWhhv

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) October 26, 2024

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Jockey Ben Allen, who also rode Bittercreek, said of Baraqiel: “He’s a proper horse. He’s just getting better and better. He feels like a proper Group 1 horse.”

Baraqiel defeated I Am Unstoppable by two and three-quarter lengths, with Mornington Glory a long neck away in third.

The Corstens-Larkin camp has always had a massive opinion of Baraqiel, despite suffering tendon issues before finally getting to the track as a five-year-old back in Sale in May this year.

A star is born. ⭐️

Baraqiel trots in the McEwen! 😱@MaluaRacing@[e-mail]/bhrtvcWhhv

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) October 26, 2024

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“We’ ve always had a good opinion of him, but they’ve got to go to the racetrack and do it,” Larkin said.

“(We had) setback after setback – but we just had to press on, and there was a time there where the owners were ready to give it all up.

“It was ‘good on’ Troy, he said, ‘I’ll cop the rehab by myself and I’ll get him back up and going because you’re not losing this one’. He’s quite special.”

Originally published as Baraqiel earns Group 1 shot after McEwen Stakes demolition at The Valley