ARCADIA, CA – Gary Barber’s Get Her Number stalked the early pace before drawing away in the stretch to upset Saturday’s $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park.
The American Pharoah is a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” event, with Get Her Number receiving an automatic berth in the TVG Juvenile Presented by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) at Keeneland this November.
Sent from post 6 under Flavien Prat as the 8/1 fifth choice in the seven-horse field, Get Her Number challenged for the early lead outside of Dyn O Mite and the even-money favorite Spielberg, who backed off heading into the clubhouse turn.
Dyn O Mite held a slight lead over Get Her Number through opening fractions of :23.12 and :47.07, but Prat got the jump on the runners behind him and moved up to take command near the 3/8 pole.
Straightening for home with an insurmountable advantage, the Peter Miller trainee crossed 3/4 of a length clear while completing the 1 1/16-mile fast dirt route in 1:44.92.
“We had a good trip,” Prat said. “He broke well and he put me in the race. He reacted well on the backside, and by that point, I felt in control.” Rombauer rallied from last to take second, well clear of Spielberg in third.
Waspirant, Dyn O Mite, Touchdown Brown, and Notable Exception completed the order of finish.
Weston was scratched.
Get Her Number’s win came in his dirt debut after making his first 2 starts on the Del Mar turf, where he broke his maiden on debut before finishing fourth (beaten 1 length) in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes. The Dialed In colt, purchased for $45,000 this past April, has now earned $219,000.
“We wanted to see how the horse could do in the grass, so we decided to give that a shot,” said assistant trainer Ruben Alvarado. “There wasn’t anything too quick for him on the turf. We had to take close to a month before coming back to this race. We went back to the dirt and gave him a couple workouts that went well, so we decided let’s do it and see if we get lucky or not.”
Get Her Number returned $18.20 to win, $8.20 to place, and $3.40 to show. Rombauer brought back $9.60 to place and $4.40 to show, while Spielberg paid $2.40 to show.
Breeders’ Cup Press Release
Photo Eclipse Sportswire
