ARCADIA, Calif. – Spring finally arrived at Santa Anita, where the disruptions during a wet winter were matched by instability among Santa Anita Derby and Kentucky Derby aspirants. More than 34 inches of rain this season led to the cancellation or rescheduling of eight racing programs since opening day on Dec. 26, as horsemen juggled workouts and races around the weather. The chaos filtered into the California 3-year-old division. Last year’s top juvenile, Cave Rock, still has not started this season. Other 3-year-olds changed trainers, missed starts, or sustained setbacks. Through it all, one particular colt dodged misfortune, hit every mark, and emerged as the leader of the division. Practical Move puts his reputation on the line Saturday as the favorite in the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby, race 6 on a program with six stakes and a mandatory payout in the 20-cent pick six on races 7-12. The jackpot into Friday was $362,841; first post Saturday is noon Pacific. While eight of the nine entrants in the Santa Anita Derby are desperate for qualifying points to make the Kentucky Derby field, Practical Move is already home and dry. He has 60 points, far above the estimated 40-point benchmark. Practical Move also enters the Santa Anita Derby as the best horse. Trained by Tim Yakteen, he won the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity in December, blossomed physically over winter, and scored a decisive comeback victory last month in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes. Others in the Santa Anita Derby have more to prove, and points to accumulate. Geaux Rocket Ride, San Felipe runner-up in just his second start, has 20 points. Skinner, third in the San Felipe, has 15. National Treasure, a graded stakes-placed former Bob Baffert trainee now trained by Yakteen, has zero points. He has not started in three months. :: Get ready for Santa Anita racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports.  Others in the Santa Anita Derby include 4-for-5 Japan shipper Mandarin Hero; last-out maiden winner I Don’t Get It; Sunland Derby runner-up Low Expectations; maiden Dazzlemesilver and Sunland stakes winner One in Vermillion. Except for an abbreviated work pattern into his comeback, Practical Move had a smooth winter. Owned by Leslie and Jean Pierre Amestoy and Roger Beasley, the son of Practical Joke is 2 for 2 at two turns with his new jockey Ramon Vazquez. The colt’s San Felipe was the top win of the meet by a 3-year-old. He took dirt, rallied inside, and shot clear with a 100 Beyer Speed Figure. “He’s the kind of horse you can do whatever you want with,” Vazquez said. “He can go close to the speed, he can sit. He’s very versatile. Every race, he’s getting better and better.” Practical Move drew post 5 on Saturday. If he reproduces his last start, he will be tough to beat. Others are due for luck, including National Treasure, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile for Baffert, who is currently disallowed from Churchill Downs. Baffert trainees are ineligible to earn Derby points. National Treasure transferred to Yakteen this winter and was the program favorite for the San Felipe. An untimely foot bruise caused him to scratch. Though he has not raced in three months, National Treasure looked super in recent workouts. Expectations are he will fire under John Velazquez. With zero points, National Treasure must finish second or better in the Santa Anita Derby. The runner-up earns 40 Kentucky Derby points. Skinner enters the Santa Anita Derby on an upward pattern, which early this winter was no guarantee. Skinner, Grade 1-placed as a juvenile, was preparing for a comeback when he worked in company for trainer John Shirreffs. It did not go well. Skinner resented everything – kickback, surface, other horses. He fell apart mentally. :: Bet the races on DRF Bets! Sign up with code WINNING to get a $250 Deposit Match, $10 Free Bet, and FREE DRF Formulator.  “What a disaster that was,” Shirreffs said. “It was awful. Awful. He was done. His mind was gone. He’d go to the track and just grind his teeth.” After the negative experience, Skinner acted like he did not want to race. Shirreffs started over, virtually from scratch. He sent Skinner to the track to merely stand and watch. Then he would jog, then gallop. Gradually, Skinner began to feel safe again. Shirreffs tightened the screws. The colt scored an impressive maiden victory in February, and wheeled back three weeks later to finish a promising third in the San Felipe. A son of Curlin owned by Lee and Susan Searing, Skinner has trained exceptionally well since, and indications are he will produce the best race of his career Saturday under Victor Espinoza. Geaux Rocket Ride got a late start to his career due to an ankle issue as a juvenile, but the lightly raced Richard Mandella trainee has made up for lost time. He romped in his debut sprint in January and finished second in the San Felipe. Owned by the Pin Oak Stud of Jim and Dana Bernhard, Geaux Rocket Ride will be a pace factor Saturday under Flavien Prat. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.