Practical Move (April 30, 2020 – October 31, 2023) was an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse who won the

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Santa Anita Derby and

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

San Felipe Stakes The San Felipe Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade II event open to three-year-old horses. Normally held in early -March, it is raced at a distance of one and one ...

at Santa Anita Park in 2023 as a three-year-old.

Background

Practical Move was a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

colt that was bred in Kentucky by

Chad C. Brown Chad C. Brown (born December 18, 1978) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing trainer known for his expertise with turf horses and with fillies and mares. He has trained ten Eclipse Award winners including Stacelita, Big Blue Kitten, Lady Eli, ...

& Head of Plains Partners. He was sired by

Practical Joke A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...

, winner of the 2016

Champagne Stakes at

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905. It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...

. Trainer Chad Brown also trained Practical Joke. Out of the

Afleet Alex Afleet Alex (born May 9, 2002 in Florida) is an American thoroughbred race horse who, in 2005, won two of America's classic races, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. He is owned by the Cash Is King Stable partnership, was trained by ...

mare Ack Naughty, Practical Move was a $90,000 (Reserve Not Attained) at the 2021

Keeneland Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for it ...

September Yearling Sale before Eisaman Equine consigned him at Ocala Breeders' Sale. Pierre Jean & Leslie A. Amestoy bought Practical Move for $230,000 at the 2022 Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of two-year-olds in Training.

stands at

Ashford Stud Coolmore Stud, in Fethard, County Tipperary, Ireland, is headquarters of the world's largest breeding operation of thoroughbred racehorses. Through its racing arm, Ballydoyle, Coolmore also has raced many classic winners and champions. The operat ...

Versailles, Kentucky Versailles () is a home rule-class city in Woodford County, Kentucky, United States. It lies by road west of Lexington and is part of the Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. Versailles has a population of 9,316 according to 2017 cen ...

for $25,000 in 2023. Through 2023 Practical Joke is the sire of 20 black-type stakes winners. Practical Move was trained by Tim Yakteen.

Racing career

2022: two-year-old season

Practical Move ran five times in 2022 for two wins including the GII Los Alamitos Futurity at

Los Alamitos Race Course Los Alamitos Race Course is a horse racing track in Cypress, California. The track hosts both thoroughbred and quarter horse racing. The track has the distinction of holding four quarter horse stakes races with purses over $1 million, more than a ...

2023: three-year-old season

Practical Move has run twice for two victories and easily qualified for the

2023 Kentucky Derby The 2023 Kentucky Derby (officially the 2023 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve) was the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby. It took place on May 6, 2023, the first Saturday in May, in Louisville, Kentucky. The race was open to 20 h ...

winning major qualification events on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, the

and then the

Santa Anita Derby by a nose. Practical Move was drawn in the

, but two days before the race trainer Tim Yakteen scratched the horse after he spiked a temperature. This allowed the

Dale Romans Dale L. Romans (born August 14, 1966 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer, best known for winning the 2011 Preakness Stakes with Shackleford and the Breeders' Cup Turf with Little Mike. He also upset American Pha ...

-trained Cyclone Mischief to draw in from the also-eligible list.

Death

Practical Move collapsed and died at Santa Anita Park in preparation for the

Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile The Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile is a Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up. As its name implies, it is part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ''de facto'' year-end championship for North American t ...

on October 31, 2023. He was three years old. The horse's preliminary cause of death is a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

Statistics

''Notes:''
An (*) asterisk after the odds means Practical Move was the post-time favorite.

Pedigree

References

{{reflist, 2 2020 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Thoroughbred family 2-f American Grade 1 Stakes winners 2023 racehorse deaths