Tim Yakteen | Horse Racing Free Tips

Practical Joke Colt Upsets Los Al Futurity

In each of his four previous trips to the post, Practical Move (Practical Joke) had finished behind Bob Baffert-trained runners, but the bay colt–conditioned by former Baffert assistant Tim Yakteen–exacted his revenge in a big spot Saturday afternoon, outfinishing pacesetting Carmel Road (Quality Road) to upset the GII Los Alamitos Futurity as the 10-1 second-longest price on the board. Fort Bragg (Tapit), who was demoted from an apparent victory over Practical Move two starts back, completed the trifecta, while hot favorite 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Lion (Justify) was a spent force three furlongs from home and trailed in.

Carmel Road hit the ground running and led them along early as Arabian Lion was no better than three wide rounding the first turn before rolling forward to prompt from second. Ramon Vasquez had Practical Move in the early vanguard, but was only too happy to see Arabian Lion go on and took the sit from third. Positions were unchanged through the middle fractions, but when Practical Move went for a run underneath the odds-on pick at the three-eighths, there was no response from Arabian Lion, and Carmel Road became the target. Sent inside of that one in upper stretch, Practical Move struck to the lead about a furlong and a half from the wire and was pushed out to a comfortable score.

A debut second to the Baffert-conditioned 'TDN Rising Star' Cave Rock (Arrogate) on Del Mar debut Aug. 13, Practical Move was third at the seaside oval the following month to National Treasure (Quality Road), who would go on to be second to Cave Rock in the GI American Pharoah S. and third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Put up to the victory after Fort Bragg hampered him badly in the final stages of a one-mile Santa Anita maiden Oct. 10, Practical Move was a latest third to Baffert stablemates Havnameltdown (Uncaptured) and 'Rising Star' Newgate (Into Mischief) in the GIII Bob Hope S. down in San Diego County Nov. 20.

Baffert had won the Futurity 13 times going back to the Hollywood Park days and had unsaddled the winners in seven of the eight renewals at this Orange County facility.

“I'm surprised because we were going up against the king, but I'm not surprised because my horse was doing really well,” Yakteen admitted. “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.”

Pedigree Notes:

Practical Move is the 18th worldwide black-type winner (11th in the U.S.) and 10th graded/group winner worldwide (fourth in the U.S.) for his young sire and was bred by Practical Joke's trainer in partnership with Head of Plains Partners.

Produced by a three-times stakes-placed half-sister to the multiple black-type winners So Lonesome (Awesome Again) and No Spin (Johannesburg) and from the family of Commissioner and Laugh Track, Practical Move has a weanling half-brother by Complexity and his dam most recently visited Upstart.

Saturday, Los Alamitos
LOS ALAMITOS FUTURITY-GII, $200,000, Los Alamitos, 12-17, 2yo, 1 1/16m, 1:41.65, ft.
1–PRACTICAL MOVE, 120, c, 2, by Practical Joke
                1st Dam: Ack Naughty (MSP, $310,450), by Afleet Alex
                2nd Dam: Dash for Money, by General Meeting
                3rd Dam: Hot Lear, by Lear Fan
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($90,000
RNA Ylg '21 KEESEP; $230,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Pierre Jean
Amestoy, Jr., Leslie A. Amestoy & Roger K. Beasley; B-Chad
Brown & Head of Plains Partners (KY); T-Tim Yakteen; J-Ramon
Vazquez. $120,000. Lifetime Record: 5-2-1-2, $194,200.
Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Carmel Road, 120, c, 2, Quality Road–Inspired, by Unbridled's
Song. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($650,000
Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket
Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay
Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC & Catherine
Donovan; B-Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Bob
Baffert. $40,000.
3–Fort Bragg, 120, c, 2, Tapit–March X Press, by Shanghai
Bobby. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($700,000
Ylg '21 FTKOCT). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket
Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay
Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC & Catherine
Donovan; B-SF Bloodstock LLC & Henry Field Bloodstock (KY);
T-Bob Baffert. $24,000.
Margins: 3 1/4, 4 1/4, 2. Odds: 10.60, 4.60, 4.20.
Also Ran: Tall Boy, Arabian Lion. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

The post Practical Joke Colt Upsets Los Al Futurity appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Girvin’s Blessed Touch Catches Eye at Second Asking

4th-Santa Anita, $62,500, Msw, 10-8, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:10.17, ft, 8 3/4 lengths.
BLESSED TOUCH (f, 2, Girvin–Blushing Touch, by Street Boss) had to contend with a slow start and a lost path on debut Sept. 11 at Del Mar, ultimately finishing fifth at a similar distance as this baby dash. Breaking outwardly to end up the rail-side part of a sandwiched Carson Jen (Gun Runner) as the fillies left the blocks, Drayden Van Dyke sent his charge to the lead and never looked back, edging away on the turn after :21.85 and :44.56 splits. Blessed Touch spurted away in the lane to a stylish 8 3/4-length margin and rewarding her backers with 5-1 odds. 'Insights' runner California Rocket (Justify) came on well to grab second while other highlight Riley G (Flatter) weakened to fourth as the heavy 4-5 favorite. Blessed Touch has a yearling half-sister by American Freedom who is the last registered offspring for the dam. GSW Bryan's Jewel (Rockport Harbor) makes an appearance under the second dam while Champion older horse, track-record setter Left Bank (French Deputy) graces the page beneath the third dam. This is also the extended female family of GISW Lucifer's Stone (Horse Chestnut {Saf]). Sales history: $32,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP; $140,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $38,200. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Pierre Jean Amestoy, Jr., Leslie A. Amestoy and Roger K. Beasley; B-Brereton C. Jones (KY); T-Tim Yakteen.

The post Girvin’s Blessed Touch Catches Eye at Second Asking appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Rich Strike ‘Looking Great’ After Derby Shocker

RED TR-Racing's Rich Strike (Keen Ice) left Churchill Downs around 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday to head back to his main base at trainer Eric Reed's Mercury Equine Center in Lexington as a GI Kentucky Derby winner.

“I couldn't sleep last night,” Reed said after achieving his first Grade I victory and second graded victory in a career that began in 1985. “At four this morning I was wondering if this was real or if it was a dream. I got home and my kids and their friends were there with champagne. I finally told them at 2:30 I had to go up to bed. I just kept seeing him in my head come up the rail.”

As the longest shot on the board in a field of 20 horses at 80-1, Rich Strike took advantage of a crafty ride from Sonny Leon to charge past Epicenter (Not This Time) and Zandon (Upstart) in deep stretch to pull off the second biggest upset in Derby history with Donerail at 91-1 in 1913 serving as the biggest longshot winner.

Next on the agenda most likely will be Reed's first trip to Pimlico and a shot at the GI Preakness S. May 21.

“That's probably the plan,” said Reed, who indicated Rich Strike would return to Churchill Downs to work over the track before deciding on the colt's next start. “I'm not going to do a whole lot with him and I don't like to run back quick. You get one like this in a lifetime and you have to protect him.”

A 17 1/4-length victory in a $30,000 maiden claimer at Churchill Downs last September had served as the only win on Rich Strike's resume until Saturday. A fourth-place finish in the John Battaglia Memorial S. and a third in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks gave Rich Strike 21 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and enough to land a spot on the also-eligible list when entries were taken Monday.

The defection of Ethereal Road seconds before scratch time Friday morning put Rich Strike in the starting gate.

“We were hoping and praying all week just trying to get there,” Reed said. “Then we went a step further than we could have dreamed.”

Despite breaking from post 20, Leon gave Rich Strike a ground-saving trip, immediately moving toward the inside behind a wall of horses shortly after the break and then cutting the corner at the top of the stretch.

“When I saw that move at the quarter pole, I told my dad [Herbert] that might get us on the board,” Reed said. “Then, I don't really remember what happened except my back gave out on me. I ended up on the ground before the horse even crossed the wire. All my friends and family just piled on top of me. He looks great this morning. He ate up everything last night and seems really good. He gains weight after every race and I don't think we've gotten to the bottom of him.”

As for Reed, it was a low-key night as he went back to Lexington where his wife Kay was overseeing the training center and 100 horses.

“My friends drank a lot but I didn't,” said Reed, who has horses entered this week at Horseshoe Indianapolis, Mountaineer and Belterra. “I was happy for my crew and so proud that they got to make the walk [over to the paddock for the Derby].”

Reed's story, coming back to win the Kentucky Derby with his first starter and a first-time Derby rider after a barn fire claimed 23 of his horses and all of his tack and equipment six years ago, is made for Hollywood. And if a movie could been made from this year's Run for the Roses, who would play Reed?

“Maybe Mark Wahlberg,” Reed said with a laugh. “He's short like me.”

One day removed from Epicenter's runner-up effort, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen was on the track alongside assistant Scott Blasi to continue their normal schedule of training. Epicenter exited the Derby in good order, according to the team.

“We'll just try and move forward. I haven't spoken with [owner] Ron [Winchell] yet but I will later and will figure out what we are going to do next,” Asmussen said.

Zandon was back at trainer Chad Brown's Barn 25 at Churchill Downs Sunday morning.

“We had a really good trip but just weren't able to get the job done,” Brown said.

Tami Bobo's Simplification (Not This Time) came out of his fourth-place effort “very well” according to trainer Antonio Sano.

“I was very happy with his race,” Sano said. “I am going to talk with the owner in the next two days and a make a decision on whether to go to the Preakness or to go home.”

Trainer Tim Yakteen was at Barn 37 Sunday morning to see how his two Derby colts–Messier (Empire Maker), who finished 15th, and Taiba (Gun Runner), who ran 12th–were doing the day after Kentucky Derby 148.

The report was good. Both 3-year-olds were none the worse for wear and would “live to fight another day.”

“My family [his wife, Millie Ball, and his two teenage sons] will be on a plane and headed back to California today,” Yakteen said. “I'm going to stick around for a while. There will have to be some decisions made in the next 48 hours about what's next for these two. Taiba is under consideration for the Preakness, but that call has yet to be determined.”

Reflecting on Messier's effort, he said, “I thought Johnny [Velazquez] rode a good race on Messier. I'm not sure, but maybe we have to consider distance limitations with him.”

In the case of Taiba, who was making only the third start of his career, Yakteen felt the horse was hindered by all the kickback he encountered, causing him to “climb some and be very uncomfortable.”

Also, he noted, “His lack of experience certainly could have played a role in the situation.”

The post Rich Strike ‘Looking Great’ After Derby Shocker appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

The Ageless One, Mike Smith Looking to Make Derby History

It was back in 1984 when a 19-year-old kid named Mike Smith rode in his first GI Kentucky Derby aboard sixth-place finisher Pine Circle. He was the youngest jockey in the race. The oldest was a legend, the then 52-year-old Bill Shoemaker.

Aboard Silent King, Shoemaker was riding in the Derby for the 23rd time. As for Smith, he was just happy to be there, not knowing when he would get another chance. He never thought that one day he would become the Shoemaker of his generation.

That's what Smith is. He is still very much in demand, particularly in the big races, and has become an iconic and respected figure who, into his mid-fifities, seems to be impervious to the ravages of time. Smith's accomplishments are very Shoemaker-esque, but on Saturday he will be out to do what Shoemaker could not, win the Kentucky Derby at the age of 56.

Shoemaker became the oldest rider in Derby history to win the race when he guided Ferdinand to victory in 1986 as a 54-year-old. A year later, he finished sixth aboard Gulch. In 1988, in his last-ever Derby mount, the 56-year-old Shoemaker was 12th aboard Lively One. He retired in 1990.

Thirty-four years have come and gone since Shoemaker set the record, a record that might be about to fall. Smith will ride Taiba (Gun Runner), the winner of the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby and a 12-1 shot in the morning line for the Derby.

“To even be mentioned in the same breath as Shoemaker is amazing,” Smith said. “All riders idolize him and if they don't they don't know anything about racing. If we could pull this off it would be something really special.”

The 1984 running was the only time Smith and Shoemaker competed against one another in the Derby. Smith didn't get another Derby mount until 1990. But he remembers other times he squared off against Shoemaker in races and the talks they had after Shoemaker had become a trainer.

“I rode with Shoe a few times,” Smith said. “Then I got to know him afterwards, when he was training and before he passed away. It was probably two weeks before he passed [Shoemaker died in 2003] that I had a long conversation with him. We were sitting in the jocks' room and we were talking about Azeri. He said that she was really bred for the grass. He said, 'Imagine if they ever tried her on the grass?' That was the last conversation I ever had with him. I was blessed to get to know him a little bit. He was an amazing human being. I never could have imagined that I might someday break his record in the Derby. I was just happy to know the man.”

Smith last won the Derby in 2018 with Justify (Scat Daddy). He was 52 then, an age where most jockeys have either retired or are mulling the end to their career. But not Smith. He mainly limits his mounts to the major races and is a fanatic when it comes to working out and taking care of his body. The results speak for themselves–he is still one of the top jockeys in the sport.

“I feel great and I'm doing great,” Smith said. “I keep working at it. Every race I ride I still feel like I am learning. I still want to win every race. The fire hasn't dwindled any. I keep myself in great shape. If you take care of your body and you work at it, you can still be successful at my age. You see that in all sports. Look at what Tom Brady is doing. He keeps himself in great shape and he's playing like it's his third or fourth year in the NFL.”

Late last year, Smith appeared to have his Derby horse. He won the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile aboard Corniche (Quality Road), who was later named 2-year-old male champion. But Corniche was slow to come around this year and his connections decided not to rush him in an attempt to make the Derby. Not only had Smith not secured a Derby mount, through the end of March, a losing mount in the GII San Felipe S. was his lone assignment on the year in a race in which Derby points were allotted. He hasn't missed a Derby since 2014.

Smith had worked Taiba when he was a 2-year-old, but when the colt made his career debut Mar. 5, John Velazquez was aboard. When it came to the Santa Anita Derby, Velazquez had to choose between Taiba and the more accomplished Messier (Empire Maker). He chose Messier, who wound up finishing second behind Taiba in the Santa Anita Derby.

“Yes, without a doubt, I was worried,” Smith said. “I didn't have anything up until the Santa Anita Derby when I was fortunate enough to pick up Taiba. But I felt that something big was going to come up. Not only do I get a mount in the Derby, but I got one with a colt who has so much talent.”

Taiba has a long way to go before he can be called the next Justify, a Triple Crown winner, but there are a lot of similarities between the two. Justify was trained by Bob Baffert and was lightly raced before running in the Derby, his fourth lifetime start. Taiba started out in the Baffert stable before being moved to trainer Tim Yakteen after Baffert started serving his 90-day suspension for the drug positive he received in last year's Derby with Medina Spirit (Protonico). The Derby will be just Taiba's third lifetime start. Both enter the Kentucky Derby off wins in the Santa Anita Derby.

“People always ask me, can you compare him to Justify?” Smith said. “He's one you can compare to Justify. Both are extremely talented and very intelligent. Though he's not as big as Justify, both are big chestnuts. They both have very high cruising speed. They remind me a lot of each other.”

Even Smith can't go on forever. When asked if he saw himself riding at age 60, he said that he did not. But he has no immediate plans to retire.

“I'm just waiting for it to tell me,” he said. “Should I stop now? Why would I? I feel like I'm still there, still helping. I don't feel like I am getting in the way, especially in these kind of races and with the younger horses. I still feel that I have a lot to offer. I'm going to do it until the day I wake up and God has told me it's time to call it a career. It's hard to say when that will happen. I know I feel good and am keeping myself in great shape. As long as I keep getting these opportunities I am going to do what I love. I'm having a lot of fun doing what I'm doing. I don't have the pressure of trying to be leading rider. Give me one or two really good horses and I am happy.”

Shoemaker won four Derbies. Taiba would be Smith's third. A win by Taiba could quite possibly be Smith's last in the Derby, meaning he would not equal Shoemaker's number. Then again, it's Mike Smith. What isn't possible?

The post The Ageless One, Mike Smith Looking to Make Derby History appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post