Overcoming two scratches and a wicked pace, trainer Bob Baffert capped a stellar Opening Day at Santa Anita Park Dec. 28 by sending out Goal Oriented and Midland Money as the winner and runner-up of the featured Malibu Stakes (G1).
Baffert, who also had the 1-2 finishers in the Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes (G2) in Nysos and Nevada Beach and Usha , the winner of the La Brea Stakes (G1) for 3-year-old fillies, missed the trifecta in the Malibu by one slot as California-bred Speedy Wilson edged Baffert-trained Madaket Road for third.
Last-out winner of the Perryville (G3) going the Malibu distance Oct. 18 at Keeneland, Barnes was on the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail earlier this year following his victory in the San Vicente Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita in January. However, after a second-place finish in the San Felipe Stakes (G2) at at the Arcadia, Calif. track in March and then a fifth-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) in April, he was given a breather.
