Goal Oriented Carries Influence of Saint Ballado

The Malibu Stakes (G1)—the last graded stakes of the year restricted to 3-year-olds on dirt—had a rather odd run-up. Bob Baffert declared five for the event, but one of his runners, Barnes, the morning-line favorite, was scratched with a strained tendon, which proved to be a career-ending injury. His place in the market was taken by another Baffert trainee, Cornucopian, but he exited the event minutes before the start after rearing up in the paddock and coming down awkwardly, and although he was uninjured, that made him an automatic vet scratch. That left a third Baffert runner, Goal Oriented, as market choice, and with due respect to Barnes and Cornucopian, Goal Oriented duly delivered in a style that suggested he would have been very tough for that duo to handle. Flying home from off the pace, he scored by a length, covering 7 furlongs in a very fast 1:20.97, and running a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 108, a number surpassed by only Sovereignty and Dec. 27 runaway Aqueduct Racetrack allowance optional claiming scorer Moe Eighty Eight among the 3-year-olds of 2025. Goal Oriented came into the Malibu appearing to be thoroughly exposed, but it's worth noting that the Malibu was his first one-turn contest since his debut, which saw him win a 6-furlong Santa Anita Park maiden special weight contest in early April. A front-running winner of a 1 1/16-mile Churchill Downs allowance optional claimer on the Kentucky Derby (G1) undercard, Goal Oriented made a leap into the highest echelons of competition with his third start, seeing him tackle the Preakness Stakes (G1). There, he suffered a major bump as Journalism squeezed between rivals early in the stretch, and wound up fourth, beaten 6 3/4 lengths. Goal Oriented faced the Preakness 1-2, Journalism and Gosger, in the Haskell Stakes (G1), and came much closer, missing by a half-length and a neck as Journalism and Gosger again occupied the first two places. Goal Oriented's other two starts were a third, beaten 4 1/4 lengths to Baeza and Magnitude in the Pennsylvania Derby (G1), and a distant sixth in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), fading after a wide trip. We've discussed Goal Oriented's sire, Not This Time, more than once in this column in recent times. Winner of the 2016 Iroquois Stakes (G3) and runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) in his only season to race, Not This Time is a Giant's Causeway half brother to successful sire Liam's Map. Retired to Taylor Made Stallions near Nicholasville, Ky., for the 2017 breeding season, Not This Time was represented by 17 individual stakes winners in his first crop. He has traced an almost unbroken upward trajectory since then, and for 2026, his fee is $250,000. Goal Oriented is his 15th individual stakes winner from his current crop of 3-year-olds, and his current juvenile crop, which has already produced nine individual stakes winners, has taken him to the brink of a title as leading sire of 2-year-olds for 2025. Through Dec. 29, Not This Time holds a $121,539 advantage over Into Mischief with juvenile entries for both stallions Dec. 31. Goal Oriented is the 11th grade 1 winner for Not This Time, the others including 2022 champion 3-year-old male Epicenter and 2023 champion turf male Up to the Mark. Goal Oriented's dam, Bizzy Caroline (by Afleet Alex), was an accomplished runner, winning the 2011 Regret Stakes (G3T) and 2012 Mint Julep Handicap (G3T), and placing in four other black-type events. She was half sister to Lady Eli, champion turf female in 2017, as well as to Sacre Caroline, dam of Sacred (GB), a three-time group winner in England and second against males in the 2023 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot. Despite those credentials, Bizzy Caroline has hitherto been a somewhat disappointing producer, as although seven of her other eight named foals had reached the races, only three had won, none had earned as much as a place in black-type company. The second dam, of Goal Oriented, Sacre Coeur, was a winning 2-year-old daughter of Saint Ballado. Her own dam, the French-bred Kazadancoa, also produced graded stakes winners Jacodra's Devil (by Saint Ballado's brother, Devil's Bag), Changing Ways, and Jacodra. Overall, Kazadancoa appears as ancestress of a total of 25 stakes winners, and in addition to Goal Oriented, her group and grade 1-winning descendants include Palace Episode; Spring in the Air, champion 2-year-old filly in Canada in 2012; Sweet Loretta; and Spiced Perfection. A daughter of Green Dancer, Kazadancoa is a sister to The Dancer, a black-type winner who also took third in the 1980 Epsom Oaks (G1). Dam of three stakes winners, The Dancer also appears as third dam of 2000 Santa Anita Derby (G1) victor The Deputy, and that horse's half brother, King Kamehameha, a champion in Japan and a breed-shaping sire there. Kazadancoa is out of the classically bred Khazaeen, a daughter of the 1960 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) victor Charlottesville, and is a half sister to the dam of champion racehorse and outstanding sire Blushing Groom. Goal Oriented owns a rather intriguing pedigree pattern. His granddam, Sacre Coeur, is by Saint Ballado, and as we've noted, her dam is out of a half sister to the dam of Blushing Groom. Not This Time's sire, Giant's Causeway, is out of a mare by Rahy, who is by Blushing Groom out of champion Glorious Song, a sister to Saint Ballado. To add to this, Giant's Causeway is a grandson of Storm Bird, and Sacre Coeur is out of a mare by a son of Nijinsky II, a horse with significant pedigree similarities to Storm Bird. As a result, 11 of the 16 ancestors in the fourth generation of the pedigree of the second dam of Goal Oriented are also found in the pedigree of his grandsire, Giant's Causeway. Overall, the combination of the siblings Glorious Song and Saint Ballado seems to be a very effective one for Not This Time, as from 14 starters with that pattern, he has six stakes winners, five graded, including a second grade 1 winner in the shape of Cogburn. He's also sired grade 3 winner Dream On from two starters out of mares carrying Devil's Bag, another sibling to Glorious Song and Saint Ballado.