Pletcher to ship Gouverneur Morris to Oaklawn for Southwest Stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gouverneur Morris will ship from his Florida base to make his 3-year-old debut in the Feb. 17 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park looking to score points on the Kentucky Derby trail.

Barry Irwin, whose Team Valor International partnership owns Gouverneur Morris with WinStar Farm, said the Constitution colt is flourishing in his training for Todd Pletcher at the Palm Beach Downs training center in Delray Beach, Fla.

In his two starts last year, Gouverneur Morris won a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race at Saratoga by nine lengths and finished second as the favorite behind Maxfield in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland at 1 1/16 miles. Through last weekend, the colt had been sent through six breezes at Palm Beach since Dec. 22 and is scheduled for at least two more prior to leaving for Oaklawn.

“I’ve seen every one of his works and he’s doing super,” said Irwin. “He looks a lot stronger this year, more solid. He’s grown somewhat, but more than anything he’s very strong and athletic. He has a superior air about him. He thinks he’s hot stuff.”

Irwin said John Velazquez will have the mount in the Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest. The 1 1/16-mile race is the last Derby prep with just 17 qualifying points (10-4-2-1).

“The timing is good, the distance is good,” said Irwin. “We’ll see how it goes, but we’d probably want to run him just once after that in the Florida Derby. If he’s good enough to make the [Kentucky] Derby, he’s good enough.”

The Florida Derby is a 170-point race on March 28 at Gulfstream Park.

Pletcher, a two-time Kentucky Derby winner with Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017), has sent his Derby prospects to Oaklawn with great frequency over the last two decades. He won the 2017 Southwest with One Liner and is a five-time winner of the Arkansas Derby.

Gouverneur Morris is foremost among his Derby possibles this year, a sizable group that includes other one-time winners Market Analysis, Carpe Omnious, Farmington Road, Candy Tycoon, Silver Ratio, and Portos. Pletcher said Friday he was unsure of the number of 3-year-old he has nominated to the Triple Crown. The full list of nominations is tentatively scheduled for release Monday.

Team Valor won the 2011 Kentucky Derby with Animal Kingdom, trained by Graham Motion.