Yakteen brings two top horses
Trainer took charge of Messier, early 8-1 third choice, and Taiba, 12-1
Tim Yakteen has been to the Kentucky Derby with good horses before. Now the trainer is at Churchill Downs in charge for the first time with two top contenders that used to be trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.
Yakteen worked two different stints earlier in his career as an apprentice under Baffert, who won’t be at the Derby on Saturday because he’s serving a 90day suspension imposed by Kentucky racing officials. The six-time Derby winner also has been banned for two years by Churchill Downs Inc.
A surprised Yakteen took calls from the owners of Messier and Taiba asking him to train their budding stars.
Baffert relinquished the colts to serve the punishment handed down after last year’s Derby winner, Medina Spirit, tested positive for an anti-inflammatory medication that isn’t allowed on race day.
Baffert’s suspension bars him from Santa Anita and Yakteen said they’ve had no conversations since he took charge of Messier, the early 8-1 third choice in the Derby, and Taiba, a 12-1 shot.
Yakteen’s career highlights include four Grade 1 stakes victories, including Taiba in the recent Santa Anita Derby, and an Eclipse Award for champion sprinter Points Offthebench. He has more than 250 career victories and purse earnings of more than $12 million.
Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will ride Taiba in the Derby, having successfully teamed with Yakteen in California.
“He’s one of those guys you feel confident when you ride for him,” Smith said. “He’s been around long enough. I think he’ll be great.”
Yakteen was raised in Germany, where his Lebanese father was stationed with the U.S. Army after becoming an American citizen.
He moved to the U.S. at age 18 in 1982, joining a sister who lived next to Los Alamitos racetrack in Cypress, Calif. He attended the races for the first time and was hooked.
“That night was electrifying and it’s been with me ever since,” he said.
He got a day job at the track working in publicity, group sales and marketing. At night, he’d watch the races.
It wasn’t long before Yakteen made his way to the stable area, offering to work for free filling water buckets and mucking stalls. He took up living in a tack room.
After starting with harness horses, Yakteen got hired by a white-haired quarter horse trainer named Baffert, who had left Arizona to chase his own dream. When Baffert switched to thoroughbreds in 1988, Yakteen stayed with him.
A few years later, Yakteen was in the racing office at Santa Anita when he crossed paths with Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham, who said hello.
“I was like, ‘Wow, the pope spoke to me,’” Yakteen said. “The timing was perfect.”
He joined Whittingham’s stable as an assistant. By 1994, Yakteen was at his first Kentucky Derby helping with second-place finisher Strode’s Creek.
Two years later, he and Whittingham returned with a Derby runner. At the same time, Baffert was finishing second with Cavonnier in his first Derby.
In 1997, Yakteen returned to Baffert’s barn and for the next seven years he was part of the team that worked with backto-back Kentucky Derby winners Silver Charm and Real Quiet and 2001 Derby champion War Emblem.
Having learned patience and the ability to read a horse’s subtle signs from Baffert and Whittingham, Yakteen opened his own stable in 2004.
What happens after the Derby is up in the air.
Yakteen said there’s been no discussions about whether Messier and Taiba will stay in his barn. Baffert’s suspension runs through July 2, keeping him out of the Preakness on May 21 and the Belmont on June 11.
“I’m keeping my fingers crossed that if we have a successful campaign that will be a realistic opportunity,” Yakteen said.