'It’s hard not to be excited about his future' - Malibu winner Goal Oriented retired to Spendthrift

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Recent Grade 1 Malibu Stakes winner Goal Oriented has been retired from racing and will take up stud duty at Spendthrift Farm for the 2026 breeding season at an introductory fee of $30,000.

The son of Not This Time is already at his new home and ready for inspections.

"We're very excited about Goal Oriented and his potential at stud," said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift's general manager. "Since the emergence of Not This Time, we've been looking for the right son to come along, and we believe strongly that Goal Oriented is that horse.

"He’s a good-looking, imposing individual that breeders are going to love, and he brings the depth of female family we look for in a stallion prospect. When you combine that with the brilliance he showed on the track – highlighted by his Grade 1 Malibu win in 1:20 and change – it’s hard not to be excited about his future. His speed figures indicate he’s as fast as any son of Not This Time we’ve seen on dirt. We invite breeders to come out and see him."

Goal Oriented, trained by Bob Baffert and owned by a large collection of significant entities including SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables and Stonestreet Stables, landed the Grade 1 at Santa Anita on December 28 with a stylish late burst past stablemate Midland Money. He was also third behind Journalism in the Haskell Stakes and fourth to the same colt in the Preakness.

A $425,000 Keeneland September yearling, Goal Oriented is out of multiple Graded stakes winner Bizzy Caroline, a half-sister to the brilliant Lady Eli and from the family of Blushing Groom.

"We're thrilled for Goal Oriented to have the opportunity to begin his stallion career at a place like Spendthrift Farm," said SF Racing’s Tom Ryan. "He is a good-looking colt and he knows it. Goal Oriented has that presence about him, along with sire power and depth of pedigree."

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