The backstory behind any winner of a Triple Crown race is usually a well-woven tale of pedigree, family tradition and a bit of pop culture. <\/p>\n
Napoleon Solo was no different on Saturday. <\/p>\n
The 3-year-old (7-1 odds) took over the lead by passing race favorite Taj Mahal and holding off Iron Honor to win the Preakness Stakes, which was held at Laurel Park while Pimlico Park undergoes a $400 million overhaul.<\/p>\n
It was the first Triple Crown race win for a trio with New Jersey connections\u2014owner Al Gold, trainer Chad Summers and Monmouth Park\u2019s leading jockey, Paco Lopez. Summers fell in love with the sport after going to races with his father, Scott, at Belmont Park and shifted to training in 2017 after starting out as a writer for a handful of racing outlets. Napoleon Solo was his first Preakness entry. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a lot of critics out there that told us to just shut up,\u201d Summers said during NBC\u2019s broadcast just moments after the finish. \u201cWe just kept with it and kept with it and it worked out today.\u201d When asked what his response would be to those critics now, Summers smiled and responded, \u201cShut up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taj Mahal, who was the favorite at 9-2, broke out from the rail position to take the early lead and set a fast pace\u2014reaching the first quarter-mile in 22.66. Early on, it looked promising for the hometown horse. Trainer Brittney Russell, who is based at Laurel Park, was looking to become the first woman trainer to win the Preakness after Cherie Devaux accomplished the same history at this year\u2019s Kentucky Derby with Golden Tempo. But jockey Sheldon Russell, Brittney\u2019s husband, couldn\u2019t keep Taj Mahal up to pace with the charging Napoleon Solo. <\/p>\n
All Napoleon Solo had to do was hold off a late challenge by Iron Honor and he kept his pace to win by 1 \u00bc lengths in 1:58.69. Chip Honcho was third. The top three horses did not run in the Derby two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
It was a strong bounce back to form after Napoleon Solo finished fifth in the Fountain of Youth and Wood Memorial races and earning his first victory of 2026 on Saturday. He paid $17.80 on a $2 ticket.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone said he wasn\u2019t as good as he was in the Champagne,\u201d Summers told reporters after the race, referring to his horse\u2019s 6 \u00bd-length win back at Aqueduct in October. \u201cThis was a win here. People will say it wasn\u2019t against the best of the best. We\u2019ll find out the rest of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
That \u201crest of the year\u201d plan should include the Belmont Stakes on June 6. Summers told NBC that his team would get ready for the finale, where the best bet will be a Triple Crown two-fer. Golden Tempo was not entered into the Preakness due to the short two-week turnaround but is expected to race in the Belmont.<\/p>\n
Both New Jersey natives, Summers asked Gold to buy Napoleon Solo at a 2024 auction. A lover of sports and old television shows, the owner paid $40,000 and named the horse after a character from one of his favorites, the 1960s TV spy series, \u201cThe Man From U.N.C.L.E.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the best,\u201d Gold said of his trainer. \u201cHe wanted this. This is his dream. He loves the game and I\u2019m really happy for him.\u201d He then turned to his trainer and joked, \u201cHey, I am saying nice things about you, pay attention.\u201d <\/p>\n
The 14-horse Preakness field was the largest since 2011 (also 14 entrants) and included three horses\u2014Ocelli (7-1), Incredibolt (5-1) and Robusta (25-1)\u2014that also competed in the Kentucky Derby. <\/p>\n
It was a more subdued atmosphere at Laurel Park, with Saturday\u2019s attendance was capped at 4,800 with no fans in the infield.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The backstory behind any winner of a Triple Crown race is usually a well-woven tale of pedigree, family…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":802116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[51,50,52],"class_list":{"0":"post-802115","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116588088691290698","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}