Tim Yakteen

Tim Yakteen was born in Germany while his father was stationed in that country during U.S Army service, and he spent the first 18 years of his life there. He moved to California in the early 1980s and sought employment at the beginner’s level in horse racing by mucking stalls.

Yakteen soon began working with Quarter Horse trainer Bob Baffert and remained with Baffert when the Arizona native switched to training Thoroughbreds in 1988. In 1991, he started working with Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham in California and stayed with “The Bald Eagle” for six years.

Yakteen then returned to work for Baffert in the late 1990s and enjoyed success assisting with Baffert’s first Kentucky Derby winners Silver Charm and Real Quiet, among other notables.

In 2004, Yakteen saddled his first stakes winner as trainer, and he has remained on the West Coast ever since, conditioning horses such as Grade 1 winners Points Offthebench and Mucho Unusual during the 2010s. In 2022, Yakteen took over training duties for three of Bob Baffert’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve horses while Baffert appealed a suspension. He ran 1-2 in the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby with winner Taiba and runner-up Messier.

A year later, Yakteen was back on the Kentucky Derby trail. He took over training duties for several Bob Baffert runners again while Baffert served out the remainder of his suspension from Churchill Downs, and one of those colts, Reincarnate, earned enough qualifying points to make the race. In addition, a colt from Yakteen’s own stable, Practical Move, emerged as the best 2023 Kentucky Derby prospect in Southern California with three consecutive wins in prep races, including the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby.

Unfortunately, Practical Move was withdrawn from the 149th Derby on May 4 due to an elevated temperature.