ARCADIA, Calif. – Gormley and Irap, graded stakes winners in April but unplaced in the Kentucky Derby, are candidates for the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 10, their trainers said Friday. Gormley, the winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 8, finished ninth in the Kentucky Derby, while Irap, the winner of the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 15, finished 18th of the 19 finishers. John Shirreffs, who trains Gormley, and Doug O’Neill, who trains Irap, said the Belmont Stakes at 1 1/2 miles is foremost on their minds. “It’s the race we’re looking at,” Shirreffs said. Shirreffs trains Gormley for Jerry and Ann Moss. In the Kentucky Derby, Gormley started from post 18. He was as close as fourth with a quarter-mile remaining but faded to finish 14 1/2 lengths behind Always Dreaming. “At first, I was a little disappointed, but after thinking about it, I think he ran okay considering he was on the outside,” Shirreffs said. Gormley has won 4 of 7 starts and earned $920,000. Irap was beaten 40 3/4 lengths by Always Dreaming over a sloppy track that the colt did not like, O’Neill said. “He was not happy about the kickback and the traffic,” O’Neill said. “You could tell it wasn’t his day. It’s possible we’ll shoot for the Belmont. It will be half the size of the field for the Derby, and we can get our trip.” Owned by Paul and Zillah Reddam, Irap has one win in nine starts and has earned $772,600. He was the first maiden to win the Blue Grass, doing so as a stalker. Sonneteer, trained by Keith Desormeaux, was the only maiden in the Kentucky Derby field and finished 16th after a slow start on the wet track. Desormeaux said Friday that Sonneteer is likely to run in a maiden race at Santa Anita next. Earlier this year, Sonneteer was second in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. “Do you continue to chase stakes-level since he’s proven at that level, or do you break his maiden and give him some confidence?” Desormeaux said. “I think we’ll go with the confidence builder. He’d never run on a sloppy track, and that got him out of whack.” The Grade 1 Belmont Derby on turf July 8 is likely to draw the Southern California-based Big Score, who finished third in the Grade 2 American Turf Stakes on turf at Churchill Downs on May 6. Earlier this year, Big Score won the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes for owner George Krikorian and trainer Tim Yakteen. Big Score has won 3 of 6 starts and earned $266,300. The $1.2 million Belmont Derby is run at 1 1/4 miles. “It’s 60 days between races, and we’ll play it by ear,” Yakteen said.