Yakteen fined and suspended for acepromazine overage

ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Tim Yakteen has been fined $3,000 and suspended seven days after one of his runners tested in excess of the permitted level of the tranquilizer acepromazine in a stakes at Del Mar last summer, according to a ruling issued Thursday by Santa Anita stewards.

Yakteen said on Thursday afternoon that he does not plan to appeal the penalties.

Yakteen’s suspension runs from Jan. 11-17, during which he cannot enter or run horses and cannot be present at his stable.

The overage was found in a post-race urine test taken from Big Book after she won the $192,000 Fleet Treat Stakes at Del Mar on July 25. Big Book earned $110,000 for winning the seven-furlong race for 3-year-old California-bred fillies, but the prize was ordered redistributed to the second- through sixth-place finishers by the California Horse Racing Board in late September.

Big Book races for breeder George Krikorian, a member of the racing board.

Yakteen, 51, wrote in a text message in late September that he did not recollect administering acepromazine to Big Book. In the message, Yakteen wrote: “I respect and understand the CHRB policy regarding automatic disqualification for the substance. In the future, we will tighten our procedure.”