Let’s face it: 2025 hasn’t been kind to Bob Baffert at all. Despite having a record number of Triple Crown race wins (17) to his name, the seasoned horse racing trainer missed the podium in all three races this year. However, as the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby awaits just around the corner, another record stares Baffert in the face: he could win his fifth title at Parx Racing on Saturday. And with the high stakes in mind, the 72-year-old trainer is also looking to boost his chances of winning the upcoming Grade 1 competition.

An article by Paulick Report from September 17 shared Baffert’s plans involving Goal Oriented for Saturday’s 1 1/8 mile race. “Goal Oriented will be ridden for the first time by five-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr,” the article notes how the 2025 Haskell Stakes (Grade 1) third-place finisher will be teaming up with the celebrity jockey in a bid to make Baffert proud at the Pennsylvania Derby. Safe to say, the plan looks pretty solid.

The 33-year-old Puerto Rican jockey has won the Pennsylvania Derby twice (2012 and 2019), and should be considered Baffert’s best bet to register another win on Saturday. Flavian Prat, on the other hand, Goal Oriented’s regular rider and 2021 winner at Parx Racing, will “ride in all 11 races Saturday at Aqueduct,” as per the article. But we’d wager Baffert won’t mind the change-up. And why should he? After all, Irad boasts two Triple Crown race victories under his belt, and almost two dozen Breeders’ Cup triumphs!

However, Baffert isn’t too keen to place his eggs in one basket, for he knows the Pennsylvania Derby won’t be a stroll in the park by any means. “I think we will see it. He is going to have to improve. They are all improving,” he spoke his mind on how the 2025 Preakness Stakes 4th-place finisher needs to pull up his socks for the imminent race. Then again, Goal Oriented is more than up for a challenge.

The SF Racing-owned colt won his maiden by 3 1/4 lengths in April and repeated the feat again for the allowance on the Kentucky Derby undercard in May. What’s more impressive is that the 109 Equibase Speed Figure that the horse earned at Churchill Downs was more than what Sovereignty bagged later that day by winning the Kentucky Derby! If that doesn’t assure us that the 3-year-old could go toe-to-toe with any champion horse on a good day, we don’t know what would.

Moreover, Baffert’s horse is also the least-raced entrant in the 10-horse field for Saturday’s race. He’s raced only twice and could be itching to show the world that he’s just as capable of flying Bob Baffert’s banners with pride. However, as the veteran trainer knows, the competition at Parx Racing will make sure to give him a tough time. And yet, we daresay he will walk up to the iconic racecourse with all guns blazing.

A beefy list of opponents, but Bob Baffert’s reasons to go all-in run deeper

Among other competitors, Gosger is most likely to be the horse to beat at this year’s Pennsylvania Derby. The Brendan Walsh-trained colt finished both the Preakness Stakes and the Haskell Stakes in second place, and will have Luis Saez on his back this Saturday. The jockey also has two Triple Crown race victories to his name and has piloted Gosger in his previous two starts. The duo of Walsh and Saez has 10 wins from 37 starts. “He’s a different horse than the one that went to the Preakness. He’s a bigger horse. Stronger…He’s run two really, really good races. He’s done nothing wrong since he started. He’s only run what, five times now, and hasn’t been worse than second. This race sets up good for him,” Walsh said about the weekend race.

While Journalism and Sovereignty, two of the best horses in America right now, won’t be lining up on Saturday, there will be Baeza to compensate for all that. A third-place finisher at the Derby and the Belmont Stakes, the CRK Stable LLC-owned horse is definitely no joke. Furthermore, the narrow defeat to Sovereignty at July’s Jim Dandy Stakes (Grade 2) would make Baeza the clear favorite to win the Pennsylvania Stakes. However, while the foes have their muscles flexing, Baffert’s recent winning streak would make it apparent that the Hall of Fame trainer is starting to find his groove after a long and bumpy road.

But there is another reason for the legendary trainer to hope for a big win at the Pennsylvania Derby. Last year, it was Seize the Grey who won the competition. With that win, the colt proved yet again why D. Wayne Lukas is considered one of the greatest horse trainers of all time. Lukas and Baffert started out as stern opponents, but over the decades, their fierce rivalry evolved into a friendship that defined the very essence of the sport. Naturally, when Lukas left this mortal world earlier this year, Baffert was gutted and didn’t hesitate to take to social media to bid his old buddy a final goodbye.

What better way could it be for Baffert to honor his late colleague than by winning the Pennsylvania Derby this year?