Goal Oriented's racing days over, says Spendthrift Farm
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ARCADIA, Calif. - Goal Oriented, winner of the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 28, has run his last race.
Spendthrift Farm announced on Sunday that Goal Oriented has been retired to its facility in Lexington, Ky., to begin a stud career next month. Goal Oriented will stand for $30,000, according to the farm’s statement.
A 4-year-old colt by Not This Time, Goal Oriented won 3 of 7 starts and earned $624,460 in a career that began last April.
Trained by Bob Baffert for a partnership that included SF Racing, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stable, Goal Oriented won his first two starts – a maiden race at six furlongs at Santa Anita, and an allowance race at 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs last May.
Goal Oriented started in Grade 1 races in his final five starts. The Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs was his only win in that span. He finished third in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park last July, and third in the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing in September.
Goal Oriented won the Malibu Stakes by a length as the 11-10 favorite, closing from last of seven.
Purchased for $425,000 as a yearling, Goal Oriented is by Not This Time, who finished 2025 in second place on the national general sire list with progeny earnings of more than $24.2 million.
Goal Oriented is out of Bizzy Caroline, by Afleet Alex. Bizzy Caroline was a two-time Grade 3 stakes winner who won 4 of 17 starts and earned $347,935 in a three-year career from 2010 to 2012.
Bizzy Caroline is a half-sister to Lady Eli, the champion turf female of 2017 who won 10 of 14 starts and earned more than $2.9 million.
Goal Oriented is the second leading 4-year-old of 2026 to be retired from trainer Baffert’s stable in recent weeks. Barnes, the winner of two Grade 3 races since the beginning of 2025, was retired to stud at Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa Farm in Paris, Ky., in late December.
Barnes was entered in the Malibu Stakes, but was withdrawn by Baffert.
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