$402,000 San Felipe, March 4, 2023 (50 qualifying points for first, 20 for second, 15 for third, 10 for fourth, and 5 for fifth)  Winner: Practical Move, by Practical Joke Trainer: Tim Yakteen Jockey: Ramon Vazquez Owner: Leslie Amestoy, Pierre Amestoy, Roger Beasley Distance / time: 1 1/16 miles / 1:42.01 Win margin: 2 1/2 lengths Beyer: 100  The complexion of the San Felipe changed long before post time when morning-line favorite NATIONAL TREASURE was scratched with a foot problem. Fourth-choice PRACTICAL MOVE won with a perfect trip (and some help from his friends) as the rest of the field ran in ascending odds order. After getting an 88 Beyer winning the Los Alamitos Futurity in his 2-year-old finale, Practical Move jumped all the way up to 100 in his first start at age 3.   Practical Move, who runs in a very small cup blinker and a shadow roll, nudged the right side of his starting-gate stall, then was slightly bumped by CHASE THE CHAOS to his inside before finding room to maneuver into the first turn. The jockey, Ramon Vazquez, appeared to have strong intent to take up a position along the inside and behind the speed; Practical Move tried to get a little rank early on the bend but eventually assented, if only barely, to a rating hold.   Everyone stayed off the rail out of the turn and down the backstretch. Practical Move, strongly into the bridle, raced from fourth while on the inside, a couple lengths behind HEJAZI, the pacesetter. The jockeys edged closer to the rail around the far turn, but Mike Smith on Hejazi stayed out two to three lanes off the fence, and when Vazquez gave Practical Move his cue at the five-sixteenths pole, there was plenty of room to come through along the rail. Practical Move did so willingly, no one around him at the top of the homestretch as Hejazi drifted out into GEAUX ROCKET RIDE’s path. Vazquez went four times to a mild right-handed crop after Practical Move changed leads on cue, the colt finishing with strong, reaching strides and galloping out far in front of all his rivals.   :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2023: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Practical Move’s sire, Practical Joke, is a stronger influence with sprinter-milers than true route horses, but Practical Move is a hearty specimen who appears eminently capable of getting 1 1/8 miles, given his finish and gallop-out. The speed figure stamps him as a major player, and Practical Move got a solid foundation facing good horses as a 2-year-old. There’s plenty to like here despite the dream trip.  Geaux Rocket Ride was ambitiously spotted going from a debut maiden sprint win into this graded route stakes, but the betting public – foolishly, I’d say – made him favorite. He broke running from post 7 and had the lead five strides into the race before Hejazi came inside him to take command. Flavien Prat on Geaux Rocket Ride likely got the trip he wanted and expected, and Geaux Rocket Ride, who doesn’t even race in a noseband, much less all the other accoutrement, went down the backstretch pressing the leader while on a loose rein.   Looming on his outside, a length or less behind down the backstretch and into the turn, was FORT BRAGG. Fort Bragg, Hejazi, MR FISK and National Treasure all had recently been moved from trainer Bob Baffert to trainer Tim Yakteen, owing to the ban on Baffert-trained horses accumulating Derby qualifying points if left under his care into March. Yakteen has trained Practical Move all along, and so as Geaux Rocket Ride made his first foray into the second turn of a race, he found himself surrounded by three stablemates.   Were team tactics employed? Who knows, but things sure worked out that way. Fort Bragg, going widest around the turn, was asked for more run past the three-furlong marker, coming alongside Geaux Rocket Ride. That put Geaux Rocket Ride in a very tough spot for an inexperienced horse, sandwiched between Fort Bragg and Hejazi. Making things even more difficult, Hejazi came out two or three paths turning for home, crossing in front of Geaux Rocket Ride, who had come under pressure to hold his spot between rivals. Prat then dove down toward the rail, and once extricated from all the traffic, Geaux Rocket Ride started finishing again, staying at least on even terms, if not making up a touch of ground on Practical Move through the final half-furlong. He finished 1 1/4 lengths clear of third-place SKINNER in a very promising performance.  Skinner, exiting a sharp fourth-start maiden route win, came out of post 9 like he was going for a trot down a country road on a warm, quiet Saturday afternoon. He was already three lengths last going into the turn, and it’s difficult to win dirt races from that kind of position. Going easily down the backstretch, Skinner was asked to make his move early on the far turn, and while fading horses inside him made his acceleration look stronger than it really was, he did come boldly past the five-sixteenths pole to get into fifth at the quarter pole. Some seven paths wide into the homestretch, Skinner was late changing leads, and by the time he did, his run already had lost momentum. Practical Move wound up running a faster final three furlongs than Skinner, and even Geaux Rocket Ride, who had done much more heavy lifting, came to the wire with greater energy. It was a solid showing, but Skinner will need to deploy more tactical pace to win a big race.  Hejazi didn’t run poorly but continues looking more like a one-turn horse than a router. After ceding the lead to Practical Move in upper stretch, he found slightly more when belatedly changing leads at about the furlong grounds, but this is no Derby horse.   Fort Bragg wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t especially good, either. He changed leads professionally at the three-sixteenths pole but nonetheless was outrun to the eighth pole not just by Practical Move and Geaux Rocket Ride, but also by Hejazi.  Mr Fisk, racing for the first time since a third-out maiden win Jan. 2, drew widest and had only Skinner behind him as he took the first turn about four paths wide. Mr Fisk and Frankie Dettori made mild, wide backstretch progress before launching a three-wide bid approaching the three-furlong pole. Skinner whizzed past at the five-sixteenths, Dettori dropped his mount inside coming into the homestretch, and Mr Fisk merely finished evenly, at best.  Chase the Chaos, going from NorCal synthetic-surface racing to dirt, played no competitive part at any point in the race.   Longshot GENIUS JIMMY raced mid-pack to the half-mile pole, where he came under a strong ride to go nowhere, fading out of the frame.  Overmatched GO BLUEGRASS GO bumped at the start, frantically tried to run off around the first turn, never fully settled, was badly outrun into the far turn, and was eased before walking off the track.   :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.