Kentucky Derby Pedigree Profile: Get Her Number

Get Her Number doesn’t have the most commercially popular pedigree, which is surely one reason why the bay colt sold for just $45,000 as a 2-year-old in training. But once you reach the racetrack, the lines between blue-blooded and blue-collar racehorses begin to blur, as Get Her Number demonstrated when battling to victory in Santa Anita’s American Pharoah (G1) on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Among Get Her Number’s beaten rivals was the $1 million yearling Spielberg, proving that purchase price isn’t everything. The truth is, Get Her Number hails from a family of talented, classy racehorses. They might not be the flashiest names on an auction page, but they’re more than capable of producing honest competitors.

Get Her Number’s sire, Dialed In, is a great example. Winner of the 2011 Florida Derby (G1) and Holy Bull (G3), the stretch-running youngster wasn’t quite tactical enough to excel in the classics, finishing eighth in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and fourth in the Preakness (G1).

But as a son of 2003 Horse of the Year and stamina influence Mineshaft out of a mare by renowned stallion Storm Cat, Dialed In always had the pedigree to be a capable sire in his own right. His best foals have largely followed in Dialed In’s footsteps, competing admirably on dirt at levels just below the very elite. Multiple Grade 2 winner Gunnevera has fared best, placing second in the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), but Ms Locust Point and The Tabulator have also displayed graded stakes-caliber talent on the main track.

Get Her Number is the second foal produced by Fancier, a low-level claimer who won three races sprinting on dirt. Her affinity for the main track can be considered surprising since her sire, Bernstein, was a pure turf horse who won a pair of Group 3 races sprinting in Ireland. A son of Storm Cat out of a mare by 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed, Bernstein is best known for siring grass stars at stud, with Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) winners Tepin and Karakontie among his most successful foals.

But Bernstein has occasionally been known to sire capable dirt horses, including 2010 Kentucky Derby fourth-place finisher Make Music for Me, and as a broodmare sire he’s passed on a bit more versatility. In addition to Get Her Number, Bernstein’s daughters have foaled 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner Champagne Room (a champion 2-year-old filly) and two-time Grade 1 winner Gormley (victorious in the 2017 Santa Anita Derby [G1]).

Dig deeper into the recesses of Get Her Number’s pedigree, and you’ll continue finding top-quality bloodlines. Mineshaft’s sire is A.P. Indy, winner of the 1992 Belmont Stakes (G1) and one of the most reliable sources of stamina in modern pedigrees. Fancier’s broodmare sire is Fusaichi Pegasus, winner of the 2000 Kentucky Derby and a son of Mr. Prospector, a breed-changing sire with a seemingly countless number of classic winners among his male-line descendants. Mr. Prospector actually appears twice in Get Her Number’s pedigree, since he’s also the broodmare sire of Mineshaft.

It’s hard to say what racing conditions will ultimately suit Get Her Number the best—his pedigree contains both dirt and turf influences, and Get Her Number has already won races on both surfaces. Distance proclivities are similarly unclear; he’s bred to handle at least one mile and possibly further, though Bernstein could tip the scales in favor of miler speed more than classic stamina. This theory received some credence when Get Her Number flattened out to finish fourth in the 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby (G1), his final prep for the Kentucky Derby.

But surface and distance preferences aside, it’s clear Get Her Number has inherited the talent to compete at a high level. There’s a reason why some bloodlines are consistently popular at auction—they consistently produce high-level winners. But this doesn’t mean less popular bloodlines can’t toss up elite runners every now and then, with Get Her Number serving as the latest in a long line of examples.