Get Her Number & Dream Shake Still Undecided On Derby

There will be some big decisions to make over the next seven days for connections, as they must decide whether horses will declare for the Kentucky Derby on May 1st.

Two sets of connections that are still undecided whether they will be running in the Triple Crown event revolve around Dream Shake and Get Her Number. One trainer that will be hoping that the horses will be pulled out of the running is Ken McPeek, who is hoping that he could land a personal Triple Crown victory with King Fury in just over seven days.

Dream Shake is one of the runners that are still undecided whether he will be lining up for the Kentucky Derby. Trainer Peter Eurton admitted that it is still ‘50/50’ whether he will be lining up for the opening Triple Crown race of the season. Connections have two possible destinations for the three-year-old, with both roads leading to Churchill Downs. The first of which would see Dream Shake line up for the Kentucky Derby, but the other could see him line up for the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile. A final decision could be made over the weekend, as the clock for final entries for the Kentucky Derby is running down.

Dream Shake has won once from four starts, with his only victory coming in his maiden at Santa Anita on February 7th. Since then, he has finished third on three occasions, finishing behind Life Is Good and Rock Your World. He finished ten and a half lengths behind Life Is Good in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes, before back-to-back races finishing behind Rock Your World. His most recent run came in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, where he finished six and a half lengths behind the winner.

Get Her Number is the other horse that could yet pull out of contention of the Kentucky Derby. The three-year-old won the Grade 1 American Pharaoh Stakes in September last year but hasn’t reached the same levels this year. He finished eight and a half lengths behind Concert Tour in the Rebel Stakes and was three and a quarter lengths behind Super Stock in the recent Arkansas Derby. Peter Miller admitted that a final decision would be made over the weekend after a workout at San Luis Rey Downs.

One trainer that will be hoping for a couple of dropouts is Ken McPeek, who is targeting an unlikely set of Triple Crown wins. The trainer previously won the Belmont Stakes in 2002 with Sarava and added the Preakness Stakes to his collection last year following Swiss Skydiver’s success. The Kentucky Derby is the one Triple Crown race that has eluded him to this point. However, King Fury will need a couple of dropouts to make it into the race on May 1st.

McPeek admitted that he would enter King Fury into the race as an AE if that’s what is needed, but it could be a tense wait. Hozier is the first horse on standby, while King Fury is the next in line. King Fury returned to the track after a 122-day break at Keeneland in April. The three-year-old returned with a victory as he won the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes by two and three-quarter lengths from Unbridled Joy. That victory was the third win that he has recorded in six starts. He could be a fascinating entry, as he recorded a win over Super Stock in the Street Sense Overnight Stakes as a two-year-old last year.