Del Mar racing regular Tim Yakteen scratched Kentucky Derby horse Practical Move because of fever

Just outside Barn 27 on the Churchill Downs backstretch Thursday morning, Practical Move trainer Tim Yakteen smiled at a Kentucky Derby journey humming along without a hiccup.

The 3-year-old bay colt, 3-for-his-last-3 with a Grade I win in the Santa Anita Derby, shipped across the country without concern. Settled into his surroundings? Check. Acclimated to the most famous track in horse-racing? Check. Poised to party crash in the comfy No. 10 post at striking-distance odds of 10-1? Check.

Derby dreams, the Del Mar regular painfully was reminded hours later, remain incredibly fragile until the hooves begin to thunder under the watchful eyes of the twin spires.

One minute, you’re gulping down ladle-fuls of delicious optimism. The next, everything crashes down like a house built with Hoyle playing cards.

Practical Move was scratched Thursday because of a fever, Yakteen said. The horse’s temperature hit 101.8, a bit higher than normal. He told the Los Angeles Times concerns spike at 102.

“Disappointment’s an understatement,” Yakteen said to the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I’m devastated for my team, my staff, our owners. It’s not one individual. So many people have important parts in it to get to this event.

“Wish I could have given them better news.”

The slight fever was discovered while doing, in Yakteen’s words, due diligence.

“It’s not significant,” he said. “Antibiotics should work very quickly. We’ll work to get the bug in check.”

Though Yakteen has developed a reputation as calm and level-headed on the road to developing his first full-fledged, non-transferred Derby horse, the loss of Practical Move in the race with a $1.86 million winner’s-share check on the line had to hurt in ways galaxies beyond money and status.

This provided a potentially exhilarating finish line in a nearly four-decades-long quest to fulfill something he compared to lining up for the Super Bowl or World Series. He worked relentlessly at the onset of his career to earn the trust and buy-in from racing legends Charlie Whittingham and Bob Baffert, banking enough experience and confidence to strike out on his own.

Some 55 hours before reaching the starting gate, it was poof, over, gone.

Gut, say hello to the haymaker.

“We have to gain comfort that we’re doing the right thing by the horse,” Yakteen reasoned. “My heart bleeds for (owners) Pierre, Leslie (Amestoy), my team. We’ve all worked very hard. We’ll look forward to him down the road.

“We’re doing the right thing. We have to recognize an elevated temp is an indication the horse is coming down with a bug. You have to make sure the horse is 100 percent. You can’t jeopardize his health or career.

“It’s not the way we scripted it, but it’s the script we’ve been handed. We’ll make the best of it.”

Imagine the temptation in such a rare position to selfishly charge ahead, hoping the situation might change. Cross some fingers. Cross some toes. Keep belief breathing, even if it’s on a ventilator.

Yakteen, however, leaned into what was ethical, humane and flat-out right at the expense of crushing deflation for all involved. You wish everyone handled health-related red flags with Derby horses this way. You understand that’s not always the case.

A year ago, Yakteen brought transfers Taiba and Messier to the Derby after Baffert was suspended by Churchill Downs for a positive drug test by initial 2021 winner Medina Spirit. He has another Baffert handoff with Reincarnate, a 50-1 shot Saturday.

Practical Move, though, had to cut like a meat cleaver.

In a profile published Thursday morning in the Union-Tribune, Yakteen’s wife, Millie, described his unique ability to accept the results of a race and move forward.

“Whether he has a huge day or a (bad) day at the races, he comes home and is the same person,” she said.

Part of peering at the uncertain horizon involves the other legs of racing’s triple crown. The longer Belmont Stakes in June probably is not an option. Yakteen indicated the Preakness Stakes a little more than two weeks from now, is a longshot “but we won’t rule it out completely.”

It’s hard to make in-the-moment plans when somebody has tossed your heart into a blender and punched puree.

“First we need to get a clean bill of health,” he said.

Sometimes, straight ahead is the only acceptable destination on the GPS. Sometimes, wading in the doom-and-gloom end of the pool is a sure-fire recipe for more of the same.

Yakteen is far from the only person to stand on a Derby doorstep, only to tumble when the welcome mat was yanked away. Treasured spots like those can be a career in the making, amplifying the anguish.

How someone navigates the emotional messiness reveals much.

“Gifted horse,” Yakteen said. “He’s shown that. We’ll look ahead.”

That’s the only logical direction, after all.