Such was the arrogance of the win, Ben Allen was even afforded time to check over his shoulder at the 200-metre mark, before smiling for the camera on the finishing line in the same fashion as when he won the Australia Stakes on Marabi a few years earlier. “There’s not too many races where on the corner you know you’re the winner. Just watching him tank up, we got to enjoy the whole moment of that winning satisfaction. “I’m sure a lot of people saw the video of how excited the owners were. It erupted The Valley, and probably started off the Cox Plate which was next to come.” Baraqiel is slated to take on the likes of Giga Kick and Overpass next when he contests the Group 1 Champions Sprint, the premier 1200-metre race of Cup week. The option also remains open to run in the $1 million Meteorite at Cranbourne having won his way into the race, and or the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes in Perth in December. If he can produce a similar rating, he will be right in the finish, but Will Larkin and his team still need to get through Derby Day first with Bittercreek. The Ladbrokes Cox Plate Day double is the highlight of Larkin’s training career to date, only officially joining the training partnership this year, and Flemington’s youngest trainer says it won’t be lost on him any time soon. “It’s the highlight. It’s probably one of the most important days in our racing calendar in Victoria. “You dream of winning a Cox Plate, but to get a winner on Cox Plate Day… let alone two, it was amazing and something Leon & Troy and I will cherish for a very long time.” BITTERCREEK CAME INTO THE SHARP EIT SOLUTIONS RED ANCHOR STAKES AS ONE OF THE CLASS HORSES IN THE RACE, DONNING THE NUMBER ONE SADDLE CLOTH AND CARRYING AN EXTRA 1.5KG THAN THE REST OF THE FIELD FOR HAVING BEEN A GROUP 2 WINNER ALREADY. He also had a Group 1 placing to his name, running second to Broadsiding in the JJ Atkins in June, a horse who was fourth favourite for the Ladbrokes Cox Plate later that day. Despite this, he had failed the start prior, so he went around largely unwanted in betting, before winning comfortably as a $7.50 chance in the small field of seven. “It was a very good win. He had to carry a kilo and a half more than the rest of the field being a Group 2 winner,” co-trainer Will Larkin told us. “I kind of thought if he was to beat them, he needed to be at level weights, but he showed his true class and he showed he’s a pretty good colt.” Bittercreek could only manage a seventh placing in the Group 2 Danehill Stakes at Flemington prior to running at The Valley, which Larkin put down to the surface on the day. “We think that it was the wet track that he found first up. “He has soft track form but the rain just fell very heavy the race before, and that kind of wet track where it’s slippery on top and the water is on top of the surface is very different…” Bittercreek will now target the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes on the back up, a race which features Growing Empire, Traffic Warden, Switzerland and Lady Of Camelot. The second highlight for Malua Racing exceeded the first, as Baraqiel won the Group 2 Mittys McEwen Stakes by nearly three lengths, recording a Group 1 standard of rating that would be competitive in any sprint race in Australia.
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