ARCADIA, Calif. – The depth of trainer Bob Baffert’s stable was on full display before and during the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds on Sunday at Santa Anita. Goal Oriented ($4.20 favorite) won the seven-furlong sprint by a length over Baffert-trained stablemate Midland Money in a Malibu that was missing two major Baffert trainees. Barnes, the Baffert trainee who was the early Malibu favorite, scratched with an unspecified setback. That left Baffert with “only” four starters. Then it was three, because new favorite Cornucopian flipped in the paddock. When his rear end hit the ground, he was an automatic scratch. “There’s strength in numbers,” a relieved Baffert said after Goal Oriented and Joel Rosario rallied wide to win the Malibu in 1:20.97 over a Santa Anita dirt track that produced fast times. Still, he earned a strong 108 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The scratches were untimely. Baffert said Barnes “is going to be fine. It’s a setback,” he said, declining to offer specifics. Same with Cornucopian, whose antics produced no immediate negative aftereffects. “It could have been avoided,” Baffert said. “It’s so upsetting, and the horse was doing so well.” The scratches of Barnes and Cornucopian left Baffert with three starters – Goal Oriented, Midland Money, and fourth-place finisher Madaket Road. Cornucopian is owned by SF Racing, Starlet Racing, Madaket Stables and Stonestreet Stables. The same group owns Goal Oriented. Racing manager Tom Ryan acknowledged disappointment in the scratch of Cornucopian, and pride in Goal Oriented. “We were so looking forward to Cornucopian,” Ryan said. “It’s a massive disappointment.” But it was Goal Oriented who saved the day. A son of hot sire Not This Time, Goal Oriented this year appeared to be just a notch below the elite of the division. He finished fourth in the Grade 1 Preakness, and third in the Grade 1 Haskell and Pennsylvania Derby. After Goal Oriented pressed and cracked in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Baffert made adjustments.  “We changed his style, we took blinkers off,” Baffert said. “I told (Rosario) we’ve been rushing him” and suggested an off-the-pace strategy would benefit. Good call. Rosario allowed the colt to settle early at the back of the Malibu field. “He’s a big horse who kind of takes his time to get into the race, I just let him find himself,” Rosario said. Goal Oriented lagged, rallied wide, and wore down Midland Money. Future plans for Goal Oriented are undetermined. The $20 million Saudi Cup is one possibility, but as Ryan noted, “there’s also a horse called Nysos that might head that direction.” Nysos won the Grade 2 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes earlier on Sunday. A previous version of this article misstated the purse of the Saudi Cup. It is $20 million, not $10 million. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.