Since making his return to the prestigious Kentucky Derby this year after a multi-year ban, Hall of Famer Bob Baffert has been chasing his big win. The legendary trainer set his sights on the 2025 Kentucky Derby and had enrolled two horses for the Run for the Roses. However, a last-minute injury to Rodriguez left him with only one horse, who faded in the final stretch.

Since then, Baffert has competed in the Triple Crown races at the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, only to come up short. His most recent heartbreak came at the $1 million G1 Haskell Stakes with Goal Oriented. “Turning for home [in the Haskell], I thought he was going to win it,” Baffert said as per Thoroughbred Daily News. However, after the disappointing loss, he’s gone back to the drawing board.

With his eyes set on the famed ‘Midsummer Derby,’ aka the GI, $1.25 million Travers Stakes and the GI, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial, Bob Baffert is once again looking at Goal Oriented. “That is the plan … today. It changes every week,” the multiple-time Triple Crown winner told TDN from Del Mar, California, on Thursday. “He is improving, he is maturing,” added the trainer.

Then again, Goal Oriented is not the only contender in Baffert’s stable. The 72-year-old is also considering Los Alamitos Derby winner Nevada Beach for the Travers Stakes. “I’m going to see how he works out these next couple weeks,” Bob Baffert added, echoing the words of the 2025 Preakness Stakes winner Journalism’s trainer, Michael McCarthy.

Journalism beat Goal Oriented down the home stretch, and Haskell, and for now, McCarthy, remain undecided about the future. Michael McCarthy also said he’ll wait a couple of weeks before devising a game plan on the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast. Yet, there is one event that will help Bob Baffert decide who he’ll enter for the 2025 Travers Stakes.

Bob Baffert will get a good look at the competition.

“I am going to watch the (GII) Jim Dandy (at Saratoga Saturday). I’ll figure out a lot after that,” Baffert added. While competitors run the G2, $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes as prep for the Travers, the lineup will force top trainers like Baffert to pay attention. Despite having just a five-horse field, some of the most consistent racers of this season will be there.

2025 Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty will be the one to watch. However, top contenders like Sandman, Baeza, Hill Road, and newcomer Mo Plex will look to rain on the opening race of Sovereignty’s summer campaign. Sandman’s co-owner, Terry Finley, has already fanned the flames in the hype train’s boiler room. “I think we all see a difference in him physically,” said Finley.

“We’ve got a ways to make on the Derby winner (Sovereignty), there’s no doubt, but I think we’re going to see a very solid performance,” added Sandman’s co-owner. Meanwhile, the 2025 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winners’ connections are taking it easy before Saturday’s race. “It’s not pressure,” said Sovereignty’s jockey, Junior Alvarado.

“The last time it was easy, to be honest,” Alvarado said about his Belmont Stakes win. Alvarado told TDN that the horse did all the work, and he just nudged him to victory down the stretch. So it’s not surprising that Bob Baffert will be watching the Jim Dandy intently.