Gouverneur Morris to run in Blue Grass rather than Belmont Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – The defection of Maxfield from the Triple Crown trail has prompted the connections of at least one significant 3-year-old to change plans.

Gouverneur Morris, second to Maxfield in last October’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, will bypass the Belmont Stakes on June 20 and instead point to the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes on July 11 at Keeneland.

“That race is now winnable, and we think it would pick that horse’s head up to have a win,” said Barry Irwin, president of Team Valor International, which co-owns Gouverneur Morrs with WinStar Farm.

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Gouverneur Morris, a son of Constitution, has two wins from five starts. In addition to his runner-up finish in the Breeders’ Futurity, Gouverneur Morris was fourth to Tiz the Law in the Grade 1 Florida Derby and, most recently, third to Charlatan in a division of the Arkansas Derby on May 2.

The ever-shrinking Belmont Stakes field now includes Tiz the Law, Modernist, Dr Post, Farmington Road, Max Player, Tap It to Win, and Basin and/or Pneumatic. Sole Volante was possible, pending how he fared in a Wednesday allowance at Gulfstream Park.