Pierre and Leslie Amestoy and Roger K. Beasley's Practical Move shook off rivals at the eighth pole and cruised clear to win the $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) Saturday at Los Alamitos Race Course.
The Kentucky-bred Practical Joke colt, ridden by Ramon Vazquez for trainer Tim Yakteen, scored by 3 1/4 lengths while earning his first stakes victory.
Yakteen got the best of his former boss, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who saddled 60% of the field while seeking his eighth Futurity win in the nine years it has been run at Los Alamitos. Baffert had to settle for second, third, and fifth with his trio of Carmel Road, Fort Bragg and Arabian Lion, who disappointed in his first try around two turns, trailing as the 2-5 favorite.
Practical Move finished the 1 1/16-mile test in 1:41.65 on a fast track while notching the second win of his career. He came into Saturday's race off a third-place finish in the seven-furlong Bob Hope (G3) Nov. 20 at Del Mar.
The colt tracked pacesetter and runner-up Carmel Road and Arabian Lion from third down the backstretch and was guided inside Carmel Road near the five-sixteenths pole. He eagerly took charge at the quarter pole and raced clear of rivals with a furlong to run for the easy win.
Vazquez, who quadrupled Saturday to all but cement a sweep of the three local riding titles – he also led the Los Angeles County Fair and September meets earlier in the year – thinks the Futurity winner has a bright future.
“This is the first time I've ever been on this horse and he really impressed me,” Vazquez said of Practical Move. “He relaxed perfectly and then I had to make a decision turning for home whether to go inside or outside. When the leader (Carmel Road) drifted out a bit there was an opening. He came right through and gave me a very nice finish.''
After laying down fractions of :23.61 and :46.66 for a half-mile, Carmel Road held for second, 4 1/4 lengths in front of third-place finisher Fort Bragg. Tall Boy was fourth, and Arabian Lion faded to last in the five-horse field.
“He's been steadily improving race after race,” Yakteen said of Practical Move. “I'm definitely hoping that he's going to continue to get better as a 3-year-old and that's the impression he has been giving me.
“I'm surprised because we were going up against the king (Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who had won this race seven of the first eight times it was run at Los Alamitos), but I'm not surprised because my horse was doing really well. That it all worked out is just fantastic. We had a great trip and I'm just thrilled to death with the horse and his effort today.
“This one's really special because Bob is a good friend, and we have a great relationship. I hate to take him down, but it ended up that I got the better of him today and he usually gets the better of me. We're just going to give the horse a breather now right now and regroup and then go from there.''
Practical Move returned $23.20. His career line stands at 2-1-2 from five lifetime starts. The $120,000 winner's share of the Lo Alamitos Futurity purse increased his career purse earnings to $194,200.
Bred by Chad Brown and Head of Plains Partners, Practical Move is out of the Afleet Alex mare Ack Naughty. He was a $230,000 purchase from consignor Eisaman Equine at the Ocala Breeders' Sale Co. Spring Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
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