Former Baffert assistant has his own Kentucky Derby horse this year. And it’s one to watch.

This time last year, Tim Yakteen wasn’t giving much away.

Yakteen was at the center of the biggest story in horse racing, as Bob Baffert transferred two top Kentucky Derby contenders, Messier and Taiba, from his barn to Yakteen’s, while Baffert served the first of his two-year Kentucky Derby suspension.

This meant Yakteen’s Derby debut as the trainer of record would be covered in controversy, and it forced the man himself into the uncomfortable position of having to answer questions about whether the horses he brought to Churchill Downs were truly his horses.

That narrative has largely gone away this year.

Armed with a year of experience, Yakteen has again descended upon Louisville with two horses set to make Saturday’s Derby starting gate.

Practical Move (second on the Derby qualifying leaderboard with 160 points) is considered a top contender for the Run for the Roses. Reincarnate (17th with 45 points) has finished in the money in three straight graded stakes races, and figures to hold his own.

The spotlight is squarely on Practice Move ahead of the Derby, and you can undoubtedly refer to him as Yakteen’s horse.

That question is more complicated with Reincarnate, who was trained by Baffert for his first five races — including a win in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes in January at Santa Anita — before moving to Yakteen’s barn in February.

Both Practical Move and Reincarnate flew in to Louisville from their home base of Santa Anita on Saturday, and the pair jogged a mile Sunday at Churchill Downs in their first on-track appearances of the week.

The reserved Yakteen spoke with media members Monday morning, and said both horses shipped well.

And as his horses have settled in, so has Yakteen, with his second go-around at horse racing’s biggest prize just days away.

“To have a second opportunity to run in the Kentucky Derby, I mean, I feel exceptionally fortunate,” Yakteen said last week during a National Thoroughbred Racing Association media teleconference.

“I feel very fortunate. I’m very happy for my team, my clients that have supported me.”

Practical Move presents Yakteen with top Derby contender

For all the talk that swirled around Yakteen and his two Kentucky Derby horses in 2022, the end product was disappointing.

Taiba ran 12th. Messier was 15th.

It was a dismal showing for Yakteen, whose own personal story makes for compelling reading.

Born to a German mother and a Lebanese-born father who became a U.S. citizen and joined the Army, Yakteen spent his first 18 years in Germany.

He began in the horse racing industry by mucking stalls, and eventually linked up with Baffert and made the jump to Thoroughbred training in 1988.

This is to say Yakteen has been a longtime presence in horse racing, even if he wasn’t a household name.

But now he is, and he could be an even bigger one if Practical Move runs the Kentucky Derby he’s capable of.

The son of Practical Joke (second in the 2017 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and fifth in that year’s Kentucky Derby), Practical Move’s seven-race career has all been based in California, although he was raised at Dell Ridge Farm in Lexington.

Once he hit the racetrack, plenty of winning followed.

Since December, Practical Move is a perfect 3-for-3 in graded stakes: His victories came in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity, Grade 2 San Felipe and most recently in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, where Practical Move won at the line just ahead of Japan-bred Mandarin Hero.

“What makes him special is he’s performed, his record,” Yakteen said Monday morning. “He has what it takes to win races.”

To this point, Yakteen praised the fact that Practical Move showed another racing dimension in that hard-fought Santa Anita Derby win.

“He’s a horse that can get in a dogfight, and keep giving it to you,” Yakteen added Monday.

Taiba, one of the horses that shifted from Baffert to Yakteen ahead of last year’s Derby, won last year’s Santa Anita as well.

Yakteen has been the trainer of record for all seven of Practical Move’s races, dating back to last August.

The last three outings have seen Practical Move win after being guided along the rail by jockey Ramon Vazquez.

“It’s actually an advantage that your horse is comfortable down on the inside, and doesn’t need the outside,” Yakteen said on the teleconference. “But I don’t feel that he would have any challenges running on the outside. It’s just how the races came together.”

Be it circumstance or happenstance, Practical Move (who was co-bred by trainer Chad Brown, who also trained his sire, Practical Joke, and dam, Ack Naughty) is also a perfect 3-for-3 with Vazquez aboard, although his Derby experience is extremely limited.

Vazquez ran 13th in his only past Derby appearance in 2015 with Mr. Z.

On Monday afternoon, Practical Move was given post No. 10 for Saturday’s race, and assigned morning-line odds of 10-1. This came after he spent the morning galloping about a mile.

The lack of significant past Kentucky Derby experience for Practical Move’s connections extends to his ownership group: The New Mexico-trio of Pierre Jean Amestoy Jr., Leslie Amestoy and Roger Beasley will all get their first Derby experiences with the horse.

But Vazquez — the person who will ultimately control much of the potential success that Practical Move could have Saturday — has quickly built a rapport with the bay-colored horse.

“As he’s gotten older — he’s always been a big horse — he’s learned how to use himself. I think he’s always shown and demonstrated the raw ability that we’re seeing today,” Yakteen said on the teleconference of Practical Move. “And as he’s matured, he’s now become more efficient at using himself and developed that desire to win and compete.”

Reincarnate is a former favorite turned underdog

If Practical Move is viewed as a top contender in a Derby with a clear, yet beatable, favorite, then Reincarnate runs the risk of being an afterthought in a weak Derby field.

The son of Good Magic (winner of the 2018 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and second in that year’s Kentucky Derby to Justify), Reincarnate is coming off consecutive third-place finishes under Yakteen’s direction in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes and Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, both at Oaklawn Park.

Those two performances didn’t come equally, though.

The Rebel Stakes was run in sloppy conditions, and Reincarnate lagged well behind the leaders for most of the race.

Yakteen desired a more “uneventful trip” in the Arkansas, and that’s what happened.

Reincarnate — who Yakteen has compared to both Messier and Taiba due to his desire to sit close to the pace — stalked near the front for the whole race before another top Derby contender, Angel of Empire, took over in the stretch.

“He’s shown us versatility,” Yakteen said Monday of Reincarnate. “His last three races, he showed us three different races. I think if you can call on all of that and put it together... I think that’s what you’re looking for.”

Jockey John Velazquez has been aboard Reincarnate for four of his seven career starts, including for both the Rebel Stakes and Arkansas Derby under Yakteen’s watch.

“I think both of those efforts were great learning experiences for my team. ... It’s just a matter of picking and having the opportunity to have the ideal spot for (Reincarnate),” Yakteen said on the teleconference. “A mile and one-fourth — is that in his wheelhouse? — I think it should be well within his wheelhouse.”

On Monday, Reincarnate was given post No. 7 for the Derby, and assigned morning-line odds of 50-1. This tied Continuar (JPN) and also-eligible King Russell for the longest morning-line odds ahead of Saturday’s race.

But, few people in horse racing should be able to benefit from Reincarnate’s versatile learning experiences like Velazquez, who has won three of the last 12 editions of the Kentucky Derby.

“The Derby is a tough race, it’s a really hard race to ride, for jockeys and horses actually,” Velazquez said last week. “It all depends on how you break, you get a position that you would like and the horse is comfortable with. Then, if the horse is comfortable and handles all the pitching around, if you will, we’ll see where we go.”

Between the sloppy surface in the Rebel Stakes and weather patterns that interrupted Reincarnate’s training in California, Velazquez sees reason for optimism for the horse come Derby Day.

“I think this horse is really well rounded, and the things that have been happening to him going into the races, he’s been a little unlucky,” said Velazquez, who was aboard Messier in last year’s Derby for Yakteen.

“So I think if we get a little bit of luck, if we get a good position, I think the distance won’t hurt him at all.”

2023 Kentucky Derby

When: 6:57 p.m. Saturday

Where: Churchill Downs in Louisville

TV: NBC

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