Kentucky Derby 2023: Yakteen is no stranger to Churchill Downs

It is a travel day for Practical Move and Reincarnate onSaturday, when they were booked for their flight from California to Kentucky.

For their trainer Tim Yakteen, the buildup to next Saturday’srunning of Kentucky Derby 2023 will be the start of old-home week. Or more accurately,home-away-from-home week.

“Every time you go to the Derby, you always learn more,”Yakteen said this week. “My first Derby experience was actually with CharlieWhittingham dating way back to the early ’90s.”

From Strodes Creek’s runner-up finish in 1994 through three Derbytriumphs assisting Bob Baffert with Silver Charm, Real Quiet and War Emblem tohis own turn last year. That was when he looked after Taiba, who finished 12th,and Messier, who was 15th, because the suspended Baffert could not. Yakteen,57, is a visitor who truly knows his way around Churchill Downs. And the Derby.

“It’s just like life in general,” Yakteen said on HorseRacing Nation’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod. “You’re constantly absorbingknowledge as you’re going through life. I think as a horse trainer you just pickup little things, and you pick up knowledge and understanding on what works foryou and doesn’t work. We don’t all walk the same way.”

That was why Yakteen was comfortable breezing Practical Moveand Reincarnate at Santa Anita on Friday morning, the day before having themflown to Louisville.

Practical Move, who won the Santa Anita Derby (G1) threeweeks ago, went five furlongs in 59.6 seconds Friday, the second fastest of 32 workoutsat that distance. Reincarnate, a third-place finisher four weeks ago in theArkansas Derby (G1), dashed a half-mile in 46.4 seconds, the fastest of 31 four-furlongworks.

“Reincarnate went great,” Yakteen told the Santa Anita mediateam. “He had some outside company and looked really nice. Practical Move wentreally nice as well. We’re very happy with what we saw.”

Bettors seem to have been impressed with Practical Move thisspring, although he drifted late this week to best odds of 12-1 in Las Vegas,where he is one of the third choices to win next weekend. Reincarnate was stilla long shot Saturday morning, but his top price shortened to 55-1.

Practical Move has been with Yakteen his whole career butnot his whole life. Rival trainer Chad Brown and horse owner Sol Kumin bred PracticalJoke to the Afleet Alex broodmare Ack Naughty. Bought for $230,000 last springby Leslie Amestoy, Pierre Amestoy and Roger Beasley, he won his last threestarts, including the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2), the San Felipe (G2) and threeweeks ago in the Santa Anita Derby (G1).

The common denominator in those three victories with jockeyRamón Vázquez was a rail trip. Practical Move saved ground each time, and thatmight have made the nose difference three weeks ago.

“I think it’s a great education,” Yakteen said. “Horses aren’talways as comfortable running down on the inside. That makes me feel reallyconfident. I’m confident he’ll be able to run around horses as much as he hasrun on the inside of horses.”

On the downside, Practical Move tends to have troublegetting out of the gate cleanly, and he barely held off Mandarin Hero in theSanta Anita Derby, where he stretched to 1 1/8 miles for the first time.

“Leaving the gate he’s a big horse,” Yakteen said. “Wecontinue to work at making sure that he’s sharp away from there. Ramón hasridden him, and he’s very well aware of his personality and what he’s likeleaving the gate. Those are all valid points.”

At the same time, Yakteen was confident Practical Move, inhis eighth start, will be able to extend and get the 1 1/4-mile distance of theKentucky Derby.

“Fingers crossed, you know, until you run that distance,” Yakteensaid. “His mother Ack Naughty, she was huge. He gets a lot of his size, obviously,from his mother. She was a big mare, and she didn’t seem to have any problems gettingthe distance. She was never tried at a mile-and-a-quarter, but I think it wouldhave been possibly in her wheelhouse.”

Reincarnate, who was bought as a yearling for $775,000 by abig SF Racing partnership that includes Kumin, broke his maiden last Novemberand won the Sham Stakes (G3) on Jan. 8. He is a Good Magic colt who had beenwith Baffert until he was transferred to Yakteen 2 1/2 months ago. That was tomake him eligible to qualify for the Derby.

Ridden in his last two races by three-time Kentucky Derbywinner John Velázquez, Reincarnate was most impressive closing through traffic,slop and a hot pace to finish third Feb. 25 in the Rebel (G3) at Oaklawn. That andlast month’s stalking third in the Arkansas Derby were in sharp contrast to hisfront-running style winning twice for Baffert.

“I would love to see him forwardly place,” Yakteen said whenhe was asked about next week. “I would love to see a Sham effort from him. He’sthe type of horse who just keeps giving it to you. Every time we run him, welearn more about him. He gives me the impression that he’s the type ofindividual that will keep giving it to you.”

Even in the Arkansas Derby, his least impressive effort thisyear, Reincarnate offered Yakteen a building block for the Kentucky Derby.

“Gosh, at the top of the stretch, it looked like he was justgoing to be nowhere,” Yakteen said, “yet he kept digging and kept giving it toyou. I think we’re still figuring him out, and I think he’s come a long way. Ithink we’re going to see, fingers crossed, an improved effort, and he’s goingto enjoy the 10 furlongs.”

Practical Move will stay with Yakteen through and after theDerby, but Reincarnate is ticketed to go back to Baffert, who would be eligibleto go with him to the Preakness and/or the Belmont Stakes. If Yakteen were toget his first Derby win as a trainer with either of these horses, then he couldfind himself turning a stablemate into a rival as soon as two weeks later.

“I guess you could say they’re rivals,” Yakteen said, “but they’recompetitors under my umbrella right now. As a trainer you run multiple horsesin races all the time. If (Reincarnate) doesn’t race under my flag in his nextrace, and I am running against him, I still look at it the same, because we’re tryingto get our horses to run the best race they have. We treat them allindividually and try and have them prepared for their best effort.”

Yes, the word “if” stood out in that response. Yakteen said hewas speaking in the moment, not about any unforeseen questions aboutReincarnate’s return to Baffert.

“It hasn’t been discussed,” he said, “but I would be surprisedif that conversation would be any different than what we’re discussing that hewill go back to Bob.”

Yakteen also was scheduled to be flying to Kentucky onSaturday. He has been doing his homework and watching what other horses havebeen doing during their mornings training at Churchill Downs.

“I do watch the workouts and the horses that are covered,”he said. “You see how the horses that are in the lineup that you’re runningagainst and how they look. But we’ve been watching not just the last 30 days,but we’ve been watching them for quite some time.”