Goal Oriented turns in quick work; pointed toward Haskell

Goal Oriented, fourth in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 17 in his stakes debut, is on schedule for a start in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 19, trainer Bob Baffert said on Friday.

Goal Oriented worked five furlongs in a rapid 58.60 seconds under jockey Drayden Van Dyke at Santa Anita on Friday, the colt’s third workout of the month. Goal Oriented zipped through a half-mile in 47.20 seconds on June 13, and went a half-mile in 48.40 seconds last Saturday.

“He’s pointing to the Haskell if it all goes well,” Baffert said. “He looks like he’s keeping his form.”

Van Dyke described the workout as “amazing.”

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The $1 million Haskell Invitational is run at 1 1/8 miles.

Owned by a partnership that includes SF Racing, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stable, Goal Oriented was beaten for the first time in his third start when he finished 6 3/4 lengths behind Journalism in the Preakness Stakes at 1 3/16 miles.

By the Giant’s Causeway stallion Not This Time, Goal Oriented won a maiden race at six furlongs by 3 1/4 lengths at Santa Anita on April 6, and his debut against winners in an allowance race at for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on a sealed and sloppy track at Churchill Downs on May 3, on the undercard of the Kentucky Derby.

Baffert has won the Haskell Stakes a record nine times, most recently with Authentic in 2020. The Baffert-trained Taiba was second in 2022. The following year, Baffert’s Arabian Knight was third in the Haskell.

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