If you go back in time to the middle of March, "The Avengers" ownership group had a pretty impressive Triple Crown depth chart.
All trained by Hall of Famer and two-time Triple Crown winner Bob Baffert, it included 2-year-old champion Citizen Bull, Madaket Road, Rodriguez, Getaway Car, and Cornucopian
Now let's look ahead to May 17 and the 150th edition of the Preakness Stakes (G1), the second jewel of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course.
"The Avengers" and Baffert will be represented in the $2 million, 1 3/16-mile classic by ... Goal Oriented.
'Goal who?', you may ask.
Don't feel bad if it's a new name to you because in mid-March, the son of Not This Time was still a few weeks away from his first race.
"He's a really nice horse," said Baffert, who owns a record eight wins in the Preakness and whose words carry a lot more clout and impact than the mere two running lines in the colt's past performances.
The saga of Goal Oriented began when he won his April 6 debut at Santa Anita Park and continued when he captured an allowance optional claimer two weeks ago on the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1) card at Churchill Downs.
Finding a horse who won a classic in his third start and stakes debut could be a futile search. Mindframe was second in last year's Belmont Stakes (G1) with the same credentials. Yet the connections believe they are not taking a wild swing for the fences with an inexperienced runner. They see enough potential in the late, May 15 foal to believe that even with just two weeks of rest, he belongs in the field of nine 3-year-olds that includes Kentucky Derby runner-up Journalism.
"When you have a two-week turnaround, Bob is your man. He has to be confident, or the horse would not be running. Bob's not going to the Preakness for crab cakes," said SF Racing's Tom Ryan, managing partner of the group headed by SF, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stables. "Goal Oriented is dappled, and his energy level is exactly where you want it to be. He has the right look in his eye. Let's see if we can give Journalism a scare."
The 6-1 fifth choice in the morning line, the son of the Afleet Alex mare Bizzy Caroline, has been high on Baffert's list of 3-year-olds since the early days of his training.
"He's the kind of horse we were always high on. He's a big, powerful colt who moves over the ground nicely," Baffert said. "He's not running just so we have a horse in a classic. This horse is unbeaten and hasn't let me down."
With a big roster of Triple Crown hopefuls, the connections were able to take their time with the colt bred by Runnymede Farm and CWC Investment 2 and bought for $425,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
"We have a system, and he progressed perfectly and was ready for that first start. We didn't rush him and weren't thinking about the early preps," Ryan said about an ownership group that also includes Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert Masterson, Ryan, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan.
In that April 6 debut at Santa Anita, Goal Oriented broke slowly and was climbing in the six-furlong sprint. He was sixth early on in the field of seven but rallied wide to win going away by 3 1/4 lengths in 1:10.01.
"We weren't surprised at all at his first race. We ran him short, and he really didn't like that," Baffert said. "He took some dirt and was climbing a bit early, but straightened out and came running at the end."
Goal Oriented shipped to Churchill Downs for his second start and flashed early speed–which will come in handy Saturday since he drew the rail–to win by three-quarters-of-a-length at a 1 1/16-mile distance on a sloppy racetrack.
"He came out of his maiden race great, and I was looking for a race for him. I thought, I'll take him with me to Churchill Downs and see how he handles a big day like that," Baffert said. "It was wet, and he had never seen a wet track before. I didn't know how that would affect him. I don't know if it's his preferred surface, but he handled it well on the lead, and it didn't take a lot out of him."
The Sir Barton Stakes for 3-year-olds on the Preakness Day undercard was a possibility, but then The Avengers' lineup was shuffled.
Rodriguez, the Wood Memorial (G2) winner who was scratched from the Kentucky Derby due to a foot issue, had been targeted for the Preakness. But then, when Baffert decided he needed more time to get him ready, Rodriguez was penciled in for the Belmont Stakes (G1), and Goal Oriented, the unknown commodity two months ago, was shifted into Saturday's main event.
"Other than Journalism, they are like me, trying to find out where they fit. Without him, it's wide open," Baffert said. "I don't think we've seen the best of Goal Oriented, but he will need to improve. His speed numbers aren't the best, but what I see in the morning is a really good horse. He's raw and just learning to run. He may be up against it, but I think he'll be right there."
As a footnote, the 150th Preakness could carry a special significance to Sol Kumin, who heads the Madaket Stables group. Kumin has owned a share of 99 grade1 winners, and winning No. 100 in Baltimore would have added meaning as he graduated and starred in lacrosse at Johns Hopkins University and still has strong ties to the university and area.
"If Sol can reach 100 in the 150th Preakness, it would make Sol very happy," Ryan said. "And all of us will be very, very happy for him as well."
