Napoleon Solo Wins Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park

Napoleon Solo, with Jockey Paco Lopez aboard, won the 151st Preakness Stakes after taking control entering the homestretch and pulling away to hold off prerace favorite Iron Honor. Napoleon Solo, trained by Chad Summers, entered the race at 10-1 odds.

The 9-2 favorite in Taj Mahal, the 1 horse and the longest odds for a Preakness favorite since the race moved to its current distance of 1 3/16 miles in 1925, was in the lead from the start until the final turn until Napoleon Solo made his move on the outside and took the lead at the top of the stretch. As Taj Mahal fell off, Iron Honor, the 9 horse, snuck up, but the effort ultimately was not enough.

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.

Napoleon Solo opened at 8-1 and closed at 7-1. Iron Honor, at 8-1, finished second, with Chip Honcho fishing third after closing at 11-1. Ocelli, one of just three horses to run both the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago and Saturday's Preakness, finished fourth at 8-1.

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.

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.

The race was run without the Kentucky Derby winner for the second year in a row. After Sovereignty did not run the Preakness last year - and wound up winning the Belmont Stakes - the training team of Golden Tempo opted to skip the Maryland race.

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.

They did little to suggest more should have tried the two-week turnaround that has become such a flashpoint in Triple Crown conversations.

The race included its maximum of 14 horses, marking its largest field since 14 also ran in the 2011 edition.

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.

The Belmont Stakes, the final Triple Crown race, will take place on June 6. The race will return to Saratoga for a third year in a row as Belmont Park continues to be renovated.

Winning Trainer Chad Summers (Napoleon Solo): "I felt like I maybe did a disservice to him all year long. You know, fifth place, fifth place. Everyone said he wasn't as good as he was in the Champagne. 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.

"That was the plan [to sit near the pace]. We felt he had a high cruising speed. Obviously, the question was, is he going to stay the distance? But there was no doubt about how fast he was. We said just play the break. We had a feeling that Sheldon [Russell on Taj Mahal] was going to protect the rail, the way he had been breezing, the way he had been training. So we said, 'Let's get a target, make the first move, don't let them come get us, and then put the pressure on them at the end of the race.' Paco executed the plan to perfection. We wanted to make sure we outbroke the 14 [Pretty Boy Miah]. We thought Pretty Boy Miah had a lot of early speed to him. So we wanted to make sure we outbroke him. After that, it was just see who else wanted to go, who else wanted to dance the dance from the inside. We had a feeling it might be Sheldon Russell. We felt like he might have to force the hand and use him as our target. And I told Paco just to make that first move. It seems a little daring, but we wanted to put the pressure on early to make them come catch us. That's what we did.

"There was talk [about going to the Kentucky Derby]. We were on the list. We thought about it, but there was a lot of speed in that race. Here, there looked like speed in the race.

"We're going to point to the Haskell. How we get to the Haskell, we'll find out.

"There's been a lot of trials and tribulations along the way. I've almost quit about three or four times. Been forced into retirement a few times. But we're still here, we're battling and we got the victory done on a horse we bought for $40,000, which I love the most.

Trainer Chad Brown, Iron Honor, 2nd): "I am proud of the horse. He really ran a big race. He had a challenging trip from [Post 9] as it turns out. He was a bit wide on both turns and it probably took the starch out of him a little bit when it mattered late. The winner ran terrific, so hats off to him. He really ran a great race. He dug back in and finished it off. We couldn't quite get there today. I thought the horse relaxed better today [without blinkers for the first time]. He wasn't overly aggressive at all. I thought, from that standpoint, the horse was always traveling well. In hindsight, the way the race turned out, I would have preferred to have drawn further inside and saved some more ground. It looked like he was four deep into the first turn and four or five wide into the last turn. I'm not making any excuses, but it made for a very, very long trip for a horse that has never been that far. That said, he ranged up, tired and all, he almost got on even terms with the winner, but the winner found more. You really have to acknowledge how well the winner ran as well."

Trainer Steve Asmussen (Chip Honcho, 3rd): "Jose gave him a really good trip. He 'handled' really nicely. He gave a lot of effort. There was a lot of pace in there, but he ran a great race."

Trainer Whit Beckman (Ocelli, 4th): "It was one of those things, the speed held and we ran a great fourth. We'll take that all day. Just one of those things. You've got to have the racing luck along with the great trip that Tyler gave him. Today the speed was king. Listen, he's showing up against these horses.

"Speed held. Pretty simple. It didn't come back. He ran a good fourth with a pace that seemed to hold on. Can't be upset with that. Tyler rode a great race, saved ground, did everything he was supposed to do. Like I've said, you need racing luck along with the horse."

Trainer Riley Mott (Incredibolt, 5th): "They went fast. We had one horse beat. It looked like down the backside he was traveling comfortably enough, but I guess it was obviously too much to do. He gave us a mild run, but he never threatened to hit the board."

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. (Bull by the Horns, 6th): "Very happy with him. I thought he ran well. He wasn't beaten too far, made a big run. Obviously, the speed didn't really come back. The horse that won was on the pace, the second and third. We followed Incredibolt. He finished fifth; we finished probably a length and a half behind him. Overall, a good effort. I think it's a building effort. Those Grade 3 Derbys are everywhere. Hopefully, we can pick up one of them."

Trainer Todd Fincher (The Hell We Did, 7th): "Luis [Saez] felt that he doesn't want to be that far back. He took a lot of dirt. I thought I thought he could handle the dirt. He's run in the dirt before, but he took a lot of dirt. He rode him exactly like I told him. I have nothing against him; he rode him exactly how I told him. He just took a lot of dirt."

Trainer Britanny Russell. (Taj Mahal, 10th): "He got away good, and they were moving along fine, but the winner also sat right on his flank. He did what we thought he would do; he just didn't kick on. You knew he was going to have to run a little faster than he has been, right?"

Trainer Dallas Stewart (Corona de Oro, 11th): "Just didn't show up. Broke OK, moved up a little bit down the backside, but just did not carry on. Dirt got him in the face a little bit, maybe he didn't like that too much. We got plenty of conditions. He has only won once."

Trainer Danny Gargan (Talkin, 12th): "He was there for a while, and he just ran completely out of horse. He got cut up pretty bad in his hind tendon, but I'm not going to cry and make that the excuse. It's pretty deep, but I don't think we're going to have to stitch it. We'll find out, tomorrow morning. Maybe he can't go that far. We'll regroup and come back another day. Probably, I'm going to cut him back to seven-eighths or a mile. We're totally proud of the horse. In these kinds of races, normally you don't feel very good, but in this kind of race we're very happy with the horse. Congrats to the winner, to Paco Lopez. He deserved to get a win."