LAUREL, Maryland — Emerging as a promising contender, Napoleon Solo captured attention with a triumphant performance in the Preakness Stakes.
Trainer Chad Summers is eager to challenge Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo, whose absence this weekend left the competition at Laurel Park less fierce than anticipated.
“We had hoped Golden Tempo would compete in the Preakness. We supported their consideration,” Summers remarked. “Unfortunately, they didn’t join us. That’s alright. We look forward to meeting them on the track eventually.”
On Saturday, Napoleon Solo fended off Iron Honor in the final stretch, marking his first win of the year after two fifth-place finishes. Golden Tempo’s withdrawal opened up the race for the 14-horse field competing in the middle segment of the Triple Crown, temporarily relocated to Laurel Park due to renovations at Pimlico in Baltimore.
Taj Mahal led the betting at 9-2, the longest odds for a Preakness favorite since the race’s distance was set at 1 3/16 miles in 1925. Initially, Iron Honor was favored in the morning line at 9-2 but shifted to 8-1 odds as the race began.
Taking the early lead, Taj Mahal ran the first quarter-mile in 22.66 seconds, but the pace slackened quickly. Brittany Russell’s unbeaten colt couldn’t maintain the lead and was overtaken by Napoleon Solo (7-1) near the stretch’s start. Although Iron Honor posed a late challenge, he fell short by 1 1/4 lengths.
“He was a bit wide on both turns and it probably took the starch out of him a little bit when it mattered late,” said Chad Brown, Iron Honor’s trainer.
Chip Honcho (11-1) was third.
Previously a rowdy event with throngs of fans and live music on the infield, the Preakness was contested in a subdued atmosphere this year at Laurel, with attendance capped at 4,800. The track’s future is uncertain – it may be converted into a training facility.
“It’s a shame and it’s a tragedy that racetracks like Aqueduct and Laurel are no longer going to be around, because they’re foundation racetracks,” Summers said. “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, and there’s only going to be three or four tracks left at the end of the day.”
The Preakness has long served multiple purposes: It’s obviously a necessity for a horse to win the Triple Crown, but it’s also a second chance of sorts for those that didn’t make it to the Derby for one reason or another. This time, it was primarily the latter when only three horses that ran in the Derby showed up.
So it came to be that Napoleon Solo and Iron Honor, who hadn’t raced since finishing fifth and seventh in the Wood Memorial in early April, went head to head again for much higher stakes.
Third-place Chip Honcho was coming off its own fifth-place finish in the Louisiana Derby in March.
Napoleon Solo finished in 1 minute, 58.69 seconds and paid $17.80 on a $2 bet. It was the first victory in a Triple Crown race for both Summers and jockey Paco Lopez.
The colt won his first two starts last year by impressive margins, prevailing in the Champagne Stakes by 6 1/2 lengths in October. He couldn’t maintain that form, however, finishing fifth in both the Fountain of Youth and Wood Memorial this year.
“All year long, fifth place, fifth place. Everyone said he wasn’t as good as he was in the Champagne,” Summers said. “This was a win here. People will say it wasn’t against the best of the best. We’ll find out the rest of the year.”
Now Napoleon Solo is being pointed toward the Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park in July.
The three horses who did race in both the Derby and Preakness this year – Ocelli (7-1), Incredibolt (5-1) and Robusta (25-1) – finished fourth, fifth and ninth Saturday.
The race included its maximum of 14 horses, marking its largest field since 14 also ran in the 2011 edition.
Taj Mahal had run all three of his races at Laurel, which likely played a role as bettors made him the slight favorite over Incredibolt. Russell was trying to become the first female trainer to win the Preakness – two weeks after Cherie DeVaux achieved that milestone at the Derby – but Taj Mahal fell back to 10th after leading much of the way.
“He got away good, and they were moving along fine, but the winner also sat right on his flank,” Russell said. “He did what we thought he would do. He just didn’t kick on.”
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