The race that many questioned still delivered a memorable moment Saturday at Laurel Park, where Napoleon Solo silenced skeptics with a determined victory in the 151st Preakness Stakes.
Trainer Chad Summers spent much of the spring insisting his colt was capable of a breakthrough performance, even as doubts mounted after a rocky Kentucky Derby trail campaign. On Saturday, Napoleon Solo finally delivered the answer Summers had been waiting for, holding off Iron Honor by 1 1/4 lengths in the middle jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown.
Owned by Al Gold’s Gold Square, the son of Liam’s Map completed the 1 3/16 miles in 1:58.69 over a fast track, rewarding the faith of jockey Jose Lopez, who gave the colt a patient, perfect trip in the 14-horse field.
Breaking alertly from the gate, Napoleon Solo settled just behind race favorite Taj Mahal, who dictated the early pace through fractions of :22.66, :46.66 and 1:12.08. Lopez kept his mount in the clear throughout before asking for more approaching the far turn. Napoleon Solo responded immediately, sweeping past Taj Mahal entering the stretch and maintaining enough left in reserve to fend off a late rally from Iron Honor.
Iron Honor finished second, completing what Summers jokingly referred to as the “Chadxacta,” as Chad Brown trains the runner-up. It marked the 38th time a trainer named Chad has saddled the top two finishers in a Grade 1 race, though remarkably the first involving two different Chads.
Chip Honcho finished another 3 1/4 lengths back in third, with three of the top four finishers emerging from the Wood Memorial.
For Napoleon Solo, the victory capped a dramatic turnaround from a frustrating spring campaign. After the colt upset the Champagne Stakes as a 2-year-old, Summers opted against running in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, choosing instead to focus on a longer-term plan toward the Kentucky Derby.
Napoleon Solo returned from a layoff in the Fountain of Youth Stakes and finished fifth, beaten 11 3/4 lengths at 17-5 odds. A subsequent foot issue forced him to miss the Arkansas Derby, disrupting his training schedule and leaving him short of peak fitness for the Wood Memorial, where he again finished fifth.
“I told a lot of people this would be his best performance,” Summers said. “He breezed great for the Arkansas Derby, but then we were set back. We were actually a little behind even for the Fountain of Youth, but I knew if we were going to make the Derby, I’d want two preps.”
Despite the uneven prep season, Summers remained convinced the colt would thrive once stretched out around two turns. Even owner Gold admitted he had concerns after Napoleon Solo was beaten a combined 14 1/2 lengths in his previous two route races.
The Preakness victory represented the first win in the race for all three of Napoleon Solo’s primary connections Summers, Lopez and Gold. For Gold, it ranked among the proudest accomplishments of his racing career, second only, he said, to winning the 2023 Haskell Stakes with Cyberknife.
With Golden Tempo skipping the Preakness entirely, the race guaranteed an eighth consecutive year in which the Kentucky Derby winner failed to capture the second leg of the Triple Crown. Earlier in the decade, Derby winners had claimed four of seven Preakness runnings.
The absence of Golden Tempo also underscored the lack of a dominant 3-year-old this season. No horse has won multiple Grade 1 races in 2026, leaving the division wide open heading toward the final Triple Crown stop.
Attention now shifts to the Belmont Stakes on June 6 at Saratoga Race Course, where Golden Tempo and Derby runner-up Renegade are expected to renew their rivalry. Whether Napoleon Solo joins them remains to be seen, but after Saturday’s breakthrough performance, few will be doubting him again.
