Bob Baffert is going through a tough time this season, which has turned out to be one of his most disappointing in years. Even with his legendary status—having six Kentucky Derby wins and two Triple Crown champions under his belt—he couldn’t snag a single win in the 2025 Triple Crown series. His only competitor in the Derby, Citizen Bull, dropped to 15th in the muddy Kentucky. Meanwhile, Rodriguez scratched, and Goal Oriented ended up in fourth place in the Preakness, trailing behind Journalism.

It looks like the Belmont didn’t bring any redemption either, since Baffert’s horse, Rodriguez, just couldn’t keep up with the strong duo of Sovereignty and Journalism. In the meantime, all the attention has definitely turned to his competitors. Sovereignty took home the Kentucky Derby and Belmont, which meant Baffert missed out on the Triple Crown podium completely. Sovereignty really stood out, just nudging ahead of Journalism in the Derby, but his contender then charged to a strong win at the Preakness—his bravery and timing got the horse racing community talking and admiring him.

What seemed like a comeback for Baffert turned into a surprising decline, with his Triple Crown hopes fading as others took the spotlight. So, with the $1 million Haskell Stakes coming up at Monmouth Park, there’s another possible hurdle for Bob Baffert’s hopes. Sean Collins shared an upbeat update on Journalism before the race, saying, “Journalism looking and feeling great this morning at Monmouth Park for the Haskell!”

This bright early-morning take hints that Journalism is really hitting its stride, and with that kind of energy, he might just outshine Baffert’s latest contender—Goal Oriented—during a crucial summer moment.

It’s interesting to see how Baffert’s usually strong Triple Crown campaign has taken a turn this time, while Journalism is really making a name for itself. This sets up an exciting showdown ahead!

Collins claims that Journalism is all set to go, but there’s bound to be some doubt about whether Baffert can get back even a bit of his usual dominance. It looks like Baffert might find himself in the shadows again. That definitely adds some excitement to the upcoming feature at Monmouth Park! So, with all this pressure, how’s Baffert doing?

Bob Baffert is optimistic with Goal Oriented

A few days before the Haskell Stakes, Bob Baffert was looking pretty confident about his colt. During an interview with Scott Hazelton from FanDuel Racing, Bob Baffert opened up about his G1 race’s biggest competitor, mentioning, “Well, we felt we had a lot of time between races, and I think the way he’s trained really well. I think if Journalism is going to be a little vulnerable, it might be this week because he had those hard races, and sometimes it takes a little bit off your fastball, but he’s still a horse to beat. I still respect him. I’ve been watching him. He looks great and but I think I like our outside post.”

So, Baffert knows that Journalism is a real threat on the track, but he’s still holding out hope that his horse, Goal Oriented, can take advantage of any slip-ups from the competition during the race. The trainer also shared some insights about Goal Oriented’s performance at the Preakness, mentioning, “Last time we were inside, we were stuck, couldn’t get out. It was just, it was just a cluster, you know, training for home. There’s a lot of bumping going on, so hopefully, if he gets a clean trip and he should be on the lead or near the lead or something, hopefully, and we’ll see what kind of horse he is, but he couldn’t be trained any better. He’s ready to roll, and so he just needs a trip.”

Baffert was pretty open about the problems he faced with his horse during the Preakness Stakes. Goal Oriented started from the inside post and ran into some trouble. He got caught up in traffic and just couldn’t make up any ground in the later part of the race. So, this time his horse is starting way outside, which really opens up a big chance for Goal Oriented to take advantage of this and go head-to-head with Journalism, who’s kicking things off from post position 2 at Monmouth Park.