By Steve Sherack
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – TDN Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of leading GI Kentucky Derby contenders to get their 'Early Impressions.'
After pairing up matching 100 Beyer Speed Figures for trainer Tim Yakteen while capturing the GII San Felipe S. and GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby, Practical Move (Practical Joke) has firmly established himself as the best of the west heading into the Kentucky Derby.
Last term's GII Los Alamitos Futurity winner brought $230,000 from owners Leslie and Pierre Amestoy and Roger Beasley out of the Eisaman Equine consignment (:10 1/5 breezer) as an OBS April 2-year-old.
“We first met him not long after the Keeneland yearling sale and he came to us to break for his breeders with the intent of selling him at the OBS sales,” Dr. Barry Eisaman said.
“He was a different type of horse than many Practical Jokes that we've had. He was bigger than most and had a really laid-back personality. He had a two-turn physique look to him. He learned all his early lessons very well and was an ideal pupil. When we started doing any little bit of speed work, he would have plenty of speed and displayed it effortlessly. Whenever a little speed drill for the day would be over, he would just drop his head and head back to the barn oozing class and intelligence. He displayed a lot of speed and had an exceptionally good gallop out at the sale.”
Bred in Kentucky by four-time Eclipse Award winning-trainer Chad Brown and Sol Kumin's Head of Plains Partners, Practical Move previously RNA'd for $90,000 as a KEESEP yearling. He is one of 15 graded winners for young sire Practical Joke and is out of the grassy, multiple stakes-placed Afleet Alex mare Ack Naughty. She brought $500,000 from Chester and Mary Broman in foal to Upstart earlier this year at Keeneland January.
“He's out of an Afleet Alex mare,” Eisaman said. “I'm thinking that part of his gene pool could favor him giving him the ability to get Classic distances, hopefully. Tim's done a fantastic job with him. The horse really seems to have winning on his mind. He's been pretty courageous.”
Champion I'll Have Another (Flower Alley), the 2012 GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. winner, was also a product of the Eisamans. He brought $35,000 from agent Dennis O'Neill on behalf of Reddam Racing out of the Eisaman Equine consignment at the OBS April 2-year-old sale.
Runaway GIII Gotham S. winner Raise Cain (Violence) will give the Eisamans two chances at a second Kentucky Derby win. The Andrew and Rania Warren colorbearer was broken by the Eisamans and RNA'd for $65,000 from their consignment at last year's OBS June 2-year-old sale. Bred in Kentucky by Rock Ridge Thoroughbreds, he was produced by a Lemon Drop Kid half-sister to GI Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic heroine Unrivaled Belle (Unbridled's Song). Raise Cain was previously a $180,000 KEESEP yearling.
“We'll have two chances,” Eisaman said. “It's a lot of fun. We decided years ago not to have a racing stable. We're service providers to some of the largest racing outfits in the country. When we have horses that we sell, we want them all to do wonderful things for the people that buy them. It's really rewarding and fun and we couldn't be happier for all these connections.”
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