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Napoleon Solo Wins the 151st Preakness Stakes

Al Gold told us before the race: "Me and all my friends are old enough for Social Security. Let's take a chance." They took a chance. They won the Preakness.

Napoleon Solo, the Champagne Stakes winner who was 0-for-2 around two turns this year, tracked pacesetter Taj Mahal through fractions of :22.66 and :46.66, took over on the far turn, and held off Iron Honor by 1 1/4 lengths to win the 151st Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park. Chip Honcho was third. Ocelli fourth. Taj Mahal, the 9/2 post-time favorite, faded to 10th.

The winning time of 1:58.69 was the slowest Preakness in 75 years. Napoleon Solo paid $17.80 to win.

It was the first Triple Crown race win for trainer Chad Summers, jockey Paco Lopez — who also won the 2024 Preakness on Seize the Grey — and owner Al Gold, who bought the horse for $40,000.

The best part? It was Paco's idea. Gold told Horse Racing Nation that after the Wood Memorial — where Napoleon Solo finished fifth — Lopez told Summers at the unsaddling area: "Go to the Preakness." Summers was enthusiastic. Gold was skeptical. The jockey was right.

Gold on NBC afterward: "Anyone think this horse could go this far? Anybody? One guy, maybe? Well, I didn't think he could go this far either."

Summers: "I'm so proud of my team for staying the course on this horse. There were people out there who said we shouldn't run — he can't get the distance, he's not ready — but we knew what we had."

A look back at how our four sources compared to the result:

Napoleon Solo was a consensus mid-range contender across all sources — nobody dismissed him, but nobody made him the pick either. The US tote made Taj Mahal the 9/2 favorite, and the public paid for it.

Chip Honcho at 11/1 on the tote delivered on the Asmussen crowd-size thesis — he ran his race from post 6 with Jose Ortiz, just not quite good enough to get there. If anything, the thesis was validated: the horse ran to his Risen Star level in the smaller venue.

DeVaux, for her part, had no regrets. She told DRF's David Grening on Monday: "I don't think the track, the way it was playing, would have played to his style." Golden Tempo is a deep closer. Napoleon Solo won from second. The track rewarded tactical speed.

As Many as 10 Runners — Draw June 1

Grening's Monday DRF piece lays out the Belmont field — as many as 10 runners, with seven Derby alumni under consideration. The draw is June 1.

Definite: Golden Tempo (DeVaux/Ortiz) — worked :48.60 at Keeneland May 15, DeVaux says "he seems to be continuing to improve." Renegade (Pletcher) — likely to return to the work tab this weekend. Chief Wallabee (Mott) — Mott won the Belmont last year with Sovereignty.

Under consideration: Ocelli (Derby 3rd, Preakness 4th), Commandment (Derby 7th), Emerging Market (Louisiana Derby winner, worked :50.12 Saturday), Potente (Derby 12th), Chip Honcho (Preakness 3rd), Ottinho (Blue Grass runner-up — Brown says "he's really turned the corner," Dylan Davis gets the mount), Growth Equity (Peter Pan winner — Brown "not convinced 1 1/4 miles is ideal" but leaving him in the conversation).

Brown could run three. The headline: the Ortiz brothers rematch. Golden Tempo (Jose) vs. Renegade (Irad), Round 2.

👉 Read: Belmont Stakes 2026 — Golden Tempo Leads Derby Runners Expected for Field (DRF, David Grening)

PTF in the Driver's Seat

Two legs down, one to go.

PTF is in the driver's seat. Golden Tempo winning or placing secures the title. Even a third-place finish (+1) keeps him ahead unless Michelle or Fallica win outright with 5 points.

Michelle needs Renegade to win the Belmont outright — that's +5, giving her 8 total — and Golden Tempo out of the top three. Pletcher has won the Belmont four times, three with Derby horses who skipped the Preakness. The pattern fits.

Fallica needs Chief Wallabee to win (+5, giving him 8 total) and Golden Tempo to miss. A tall order, but Wallabee was right there with Commandment all spring and Bill Mott won this race last year with Sovereignty.

Nick is essentially drawing dead unless Chip Honcho runs back — the Preakness third is a possible Belmont contender — and both Golden Tempo and the leaders' horses miss entirely.

The wild card is Napoleon Solo, the Preakness winner who nobody drafted. If he wins the Belmont, nobody scores and PTF wins the contest on current points.

PTF and JK sat down to recap the Preakness — the 96 Beyer that JK thinks is generous, Iron Honor's hang in the stretch, and what the Derby form looks like heading into the Belmont.

A Boy, a Racehorse, and a Story That Doesn't End

PTF sat down with Paul Halloran, author of Cody's Wish: A Boy, a Racehorse, and a Fight for Life — the definitive account of the bond between Cody Dorman and the champion racehorse who became his best friend. Halloran embedded with the Dorman family for the 2023 season, witnessed the connection up close, and found himself writing a non-fiction ending that no fiction editor would have believed.

👉 Read the full article at inthemoneypodcast.com

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