2022 Kentucky Derby: Yakteen in new role readying Messier for Santa Anita Derby

ARCADIA, Calif. – When Tim Yakteen first pedaled over to Los Alamitos, he could never have imagined the ride he’d end up on.

He was 18, newly arrived in the United States from Germany, living in an apartment in Cypress, Calif., and the only mode of transportation he had was a bicycle, which limited the scope of his job search.

“I needed to be able to bike to work,” he said.

Los Alamitos – at the time hosting meets for Standardbreds, Quarter Horses, and Thoroughbreds – beckoned. He got a job on the frontside, was captivated by the racing, and gravitated to the backside, working first with Standardbreds, then Quarter Horses, and finally Thoroughbreds. The desire to train on his own eventually took hold, and after two apprenticeships with Bob Baffert and one with Charlie Whittingham – Hall of Famers and two of the most successful trainers in Southern California racing history – Yakteen went on his own in 2004, fashioning a solid career that includes an Eclipse Award-winning sprinter.

Yakteen, 57, now has been thrust into the Kentucky Derby spotlight, having been selected by the partnership that campaigns the top contender Messier – as well as Armagnac – to prepare them for the Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, and potentially the Kentucky Derby, those horses having been transferred owing to Baffert’s 90-day suspension that began Monday.

Up to this point, the highlights of Yakteen’s training career have been an Eclipse Award for the sprinter Points Offthebench and a California-bred horse of the year title for the grass mare Mucho Unusual. Those are his two Grade 1 winners, but he’s had a decades-long foundation of being around top horses, and top trainers, to prepare him for his current tasks.

When employed by Whittingham, Yakteen traveled to Tokyo and saddled Golden Pheasant for a Japan Cup victory in 1991. Also during his six years with Whittingham, the barn was represented by two-time female turf champ Flawlessly, who was compiling a résumé that brought her to the Hall of Fame, and Sir Beaufort, who won the 1993 Santa Anita Handicap.

When employed by Baffert, Yakteen oversaw the preparation of Captain Steve for his 2001 Dubai World Cup victory, and he was part of the team during an era when Baffert won his first three Kentucky Derbies, with Silver Charm, Real Quiet, and War Emblem.

“I’ve been very, very fortunate,” Yakteen said. “I’ve had many breaks in my career. I know others haven’t been as lucky. The industry has been very good to me.”

Tom Ryan, the racing manager for SF Racing who oversees the partnership that owns Messier and Armagnac, called Yakteen “a good American success story.” He said he first met Yakteen through bloodstock agent Donato Lanni.

Yakteen usually carries between 25 and 30 horses, and they have an assortment of class levels and surface preferences. He said working for Baffert and Whittingham taught him “general horsemanship, overall care, keeping them happy and fit, and letting the horses talk to you.”

“I think they both adjust to the kinds of horses they have,” Yakteen said. “The horses Charlie was sent usually matured late, but that didn’t stop him from going on with a horse who was precocious and showed an ability to run early. If the horse was early and precocious, you’d capitalize on that.”

Yakteen had no background in racing when he arrived in the United States. In Germany, where his father was employed by the military, the family lived in a small village, with cows and sheep.

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Once stepping foot into Los Alamitos, “I loved it,” Yakteen said.

“The first time I went to nighttime Quarter Horse racing, the place was packed,” he said. “There was so much energy. It was an exciting experience, and enticing. I felt like I wanted to see a little more of the industry.”

From those early, struggling years, when his first job on the backside was literally merely filling water buckets for horses about to be bathed, Yakteen now has a comfortable, family-centered life near Santa Anita. He lives in Monrovia with his wife, broadcaster Millie Ball – the franchise player for XBTV and Santa Anita’s simulcast shows – and their two sons, Sam, 16, and Ben, 14.

Their home backs up to the mountains. They have an expansive backyard, in which Yakteen said he enjoys gardening, but he has to be on the lookout for wildlife heading down from the hills.

“We get a lot of visits,” Yakteen said, laughing. “Since the season started, we’ve had three different bears hanging out. We get mountain lions, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, lynx.”

He’s come a long ways from the days of biking to work. But his approach is the same, then as now – head down, keep pedaling.