Gold Square LLC’s Napoleon Solo, a Grade 1 winner at 2 who had come up short in his two races this year, went the distance in Saturday’s 151st Preakness Stakes (G1) on an historic day at Laurel Park.
For the first time, the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown was renewed at Laurel Park, not Pimlico Race Course, which is scheduled once again host the 1 3/16-mile Classic next year when on-going construction on a new facility is complete.
Napoleon Solo, who had shown signs of distance limitations while fading to fifth in the Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park and Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct at 1 1/8-miles, was given another chance to prove himself at a distance of ground by trainer Chad Summers, and the son of Liam’s Map came through with flying colors with a 1 ¼-length victory.
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The gray colt delivered Summers and jockey Paco Lopez their first victories in a Triple Crown event while scoring as the fourth betting choice at 7-1.
An easy winner of his two starts last year, including a 6 ½-length victory in the one-turn mile Champagne (G1) at Aqueduct, Napoleon Solo prevailed in a full field of 14 3-year-olds, the largest to enter the starting gate since Shackleford also defeated 13 rivals in 2011.
Two weeks after Cherie DeVaux became the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby (G1) with Golden Tempo, Laurel-based trainer Brittany Russell saddled the undefeated Taj Mahal, the 9-2 favorite, in a quest to become the first woman trainer to win the Preakness.
Taj Mahal broke alertly from his rail post position under jockey Sheldon Russell, the trainer’s husband, and sprinted to an early lead along the front-stretch before being joined on his outside by Napoleon Solo and Lopez heading into the first turn. Taj Mahal, who ran the first half mile in 46.66 seconds, continued to show the way along the backstretch with Napoleon Solo rating kindly for Lopez, well within striking distance in second.
Taj Mahal continued to lead the way on the far turn as Napoleon Solo turned up the pressure but was no match for the eventual winner after straightening into the homestretch, where the Summers trainee asserted his class to forge ahead and hold off a late-running Iron Honor, the 9-2 morning-line favorite who rallied from sixth. Taj Mahal, who had won three races at Laurel without defeat, faded to 10th.
Napoleon Solo ran 1 3/16 miles in 1:58.69. Iron Honor and jockey Flavien Prat finished 3 ¼ lengths clear of third-place finisher Chip Honcho, who raced evenly throughout. Ocelli, a seven-race maiden who finished third in the Kentucky Derby at 70-1, closed from 11th to finish fourth. No maiden has won the Preakness since 1888.
