Napoleon Solo Stars in Preakness, Repels Iron Honor

It's not often that a "first" can happen in a race that has existed since 1873, but the 151st edition of the Preakness Stakes (G1) is one that will forever have it's place in history. The "first" in play May 16 was the first edition to ever be held at Laurel Park, about 20 miles south of the $2 million race's usual home, Pimlico Race Course. Pimlico is currently in the process of a rebuild, an event that has been patiently waited for many years as the grandstand severely decayed. For Maryland racing, they will hope that patience will pay off with a rejuvenation of the iconic middle jewel of the Triple Crown. In fact, they will hope that patience pays off in the exact same way it did for the connections of Napoleon Solo who, after a frustrating winter, redeemed himself as one of the leading 3-year-olds in the nation with a never-in-doubt 1 1/4-length triumph over Iron Honor. Despite being the only grade 1 winner in the 14-horse field, many questions surrounded the son of Liam's Map after starting his sophomore campaign with consecutive fifth-place finishes. Still, confidence never wavered in trainer Chad Summers and owner Al Gold, who knew when the horse was right he was one of a kind. "I told a lot of people that I thought this was going to be the best performance of his life," Summers said. "Nothing went right to start his 3-year-old year. We started off a little bit behind the eight ball." Starting off behind the eight ball came after a decision to skip shipping to California for the 2025 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) following a dominant 6 1/2-length triumph in the Champagne Stakes (G1) at Aqueduct Racetrack. That move was made purely with the goal of getting the colt into the Kentucky Derby (G1) starting gate May 2. However, several setbacks would soon persist. Knowing history would not be on his side entering the Derby off a single prep, Summers leaned on the Derby qualifying points he had already earned when mapping a pair of preps. In the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2), Summers knew he would need the race. He was correct as the colt's training improved afterward, but then a heel bruise forced him to enter the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) without a breeze in more than two weeks. Still, Napoleon Solo would have been able to enter the Kentucky Derby (G1) as an also-eligible and, as it turned out, been the second alternate to draw in. Instead of waiting out to see whether or not they would get in, and after what Summers said was 300,000-400,000 phone calls, he and Gold shifted their attention to the Preakness. "I'm still in a little bit of disbelief," Summers said about being rewarded for his patience with the victory. "It's just a credit to the staff, to the whole team that we have to get here in a place where a lot of people doubted us and probably will still continue to doubt us. "I just feel like I'm proud of the horse. I felt like the horse deserved it. I feel like I let the horse down with his two fifth-place finishes in his first two starts (this year). I felt like I let Gold Square down trying to get to the Derby. So it's just an omen to get back here, and this is the icing on the cake to get the victory." Summers and Gold have united in purchasing horses for the last six years. One of their top success was dual grade 1 winner Cyberknife, who was trained by Brad Cox. Gold said he's often beaten up Summers as he does all his trainers, but at the end of the day the two are close. "I talk to him six, seven times a day," Gold said. "We got a lot of horses together, and I'm more than grateful for the job he did. Tremendous job in getting all these horses ready, especially this one." READ: Owner Gold Strikes Preakness Gold With Napoleon Solo Gold also sent praise to jockey Paco Lopez, who he credited with pushing for starting the horse in the Preakness after the Wood Memorial. The only question would be whether he could handle the distance. Much talk was also made of the amount of early speed entered in the race, but Summers felt he had the quickest. "We said there's a lot of speed in the race, but the fractions that they run aren't really speed fractions. They're :47s (for a half-mile) and :48s," Summers said. "We felt like his biggest asset is his cruising speed. "We just hoped somebody would give us a little target in front. If nobody else went there, then we would have been :22 and 4 in front. That was the plan, we weren't going to take his biggest asset away from him." The plan worked to perfection as Lopez got his target in favored Taj Mahal, who was breaking from the rail. Napoleon Solo tracked fractions of :22.66, :46.66, and 1:12.08 before moving into the lead on the far turn. From there, Lopez took several looks back for competition, showing his confidence as he stayed strong through the lane. Iron Honor would emerge from midpack to make a run, but would never get close enough to threaten as Napoleon Solo stopped the clock in 1:58.69. Chip Honcho, who rated in fourth down the backstretch, stayed on for third. Closers and Kentucky Derby returners Ocelli and Incredibolt finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Taj Mahal faded to 10th. "I felt very comfortable with the horse. The horse was very confident," Lopez said. "His confidence was very good in the gate. … I didn't want to move too quickly. I came and looked (over his shoulder). When it was time to move, I did it and he moved perfect." The victory was a first in the Preakness and the Triple Crown for Lopez, Summers, and Gold. The scene was certainly different given the capped crowd of 4,800 for Laurel's smaller facility. Still, the crowd was vocal and vibrant throughout the day, especially on the apron as the Preakness field turned for home. The crowd didn't seem small to Summers when he put in perspective attending Preakness weekend during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, starting Truth Hurts in the George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) when Pimlico did not hold a crowd. In some ways, the Preakness this year felt like a celebration and swan song for Laurel, its one chance to hold the state's feature race before its scheduled closure when Pimlico assumes year-round racing at the completion of construction. Napoleon Solo will now be the answer to a very interesting trivia question as the last horse to win a grade 1 at both Laurel and Aqueduct, which is scheduled to run its last race June 28. Like Maryland, New York will condense into a newly renovated Belmont Park as the year-round home for racing; with the exception of the Saratoga Race Course summer meet. "(Winning the only Preakness at Laurel) is great, and we're going to love this and remember this for the rest of our lives," Summers said. "But the fact that Aqueduct and Laurel is going to shut down and only be a training center is a travesty. I would just hope that we get the opportunity as an industry to rally and save some of these tracks. We can't allow this to keep happening. "I thought Laurel put on a great show this week. I thought it was a great crowd, the ones that were here. I wish we could have a little bit more. But it's a shame that Laurel is going to close because it's a wonderful facility. It's great to train at, and they have plenty of places to celebrate, which we'll find out in a little bit." The plans are not in play for Napoleon Solo to take a second jewel outside of its usual home when the Belmont Stakes (G1) is contested at Saratoga for the third and final time June 6. As a New Jersey native, Gold cherishes the July 18 Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park, winning it with Cyberknife in 2022. Summers said that will be the next major target. "How we get there, we'll talk about," Summers said. "We'll see how he comes out of the race. But our first immediate goal is the Haskell." Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo is set for a start in the Belmont after connections chose not to pursue the Triple Crown in the Preakness. With Napoleon Solo passing on the Belmont, it will mark the first time since 2023 that the Derby and Preakness winner will not meet in the Triple Crown's final leg. "I'm excited to see how the rest of the year plays out. I think it's a wide-open race for champion 3-year-old," Summers said. "I'll take nothing away from the great race Golden Tempo ran in the Derby. We wish they were here in the Preakness. We were rooting for them when they were thinking about it. Unfortunately they didn't make it here. That's fine. Hopefully we can see him down the road somewhere." Napoleon Solo was bred in Kentucky by John Gunther, who also bred 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, and Eurowest Bloodstock. He is the first classic winner and first grade 1 winner this season for 2015 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Liam's Map, who stands at Lane's End near Versailles, Ky., for a $50,000 fee in 2026. Napoleon Solo is out of the stakes-winning Scat Daddy mare Atomic Blonde.