Napoleon Solo emerged victorious in the 2026 Preakness Stakes on Saturday at the Laurel Park in Maryland.
The Chad Summers-trained horse, who had a 7-1 chance of winning the race, passed early leader Taj Mahal near the top of the stretch and held off fast-charging Iron Honor to win by 1 1/4 lengths in the 1 3/16-mile race.
Napoleon Solo gains first win of the year
Napoleon Solo’s first win of the year came at the second of three Triple Crown jewels in US horseracing.
He bounced back from a pair of fifth-place finishes in his previous starts to check the tape at 1 minute and 58.69 seconds. He was paid $17.80 on a $2 bet.
Summers also secured his first Triple Crown win so as jockey Paco Lopez. The colt emerged as one of the horses to watch after winning his first two starts last year, including the Champagne Stakes in October 2025 by 6 1/2 lengths.
However, Napoleon Solo failed to sustain his form at the start of the year, finishing fifth in the Fountain of Youth and Wood Memorial Stakes Races.
Taj Mahal broke to the lead early and covered the first quarter-mile in 22.66 seconds, with Napoleon Solo close by.
The pace, however, quickly slowed and trainer Brittany Russell’s unbeaten colt could not sustain the pace and was passed by Napoleon Solo with Iron Honor threatening late in the race.
Chip Honcho, at 11-1, finished third while the three horses who did race in both the Derby and Preakness this year Ocelli (7-1), Incredibolt (5-1) and Robusta (25-1) checked in fourth, fifth and ninth, respectively.
Taj Mahal, who was the early favourite due to his unbeaten run at Laurel, fell back to 10th after leading much of the way.
Bull by the Horns came in sixth, The Hell We Did finished seventh and Great White checked in eighth.
Corona de Oro, Talkin, Crupper and Pretty Boy Miah arrived 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th, respectively.
The race was held at Laurel Park this year because Pimlico in Baltimore is undergoing reconstruction.
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Summers wants to face Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo
After the win, Summers said that they wanted to face Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo, who was absent for the Preakness, leaving an underwhelming weekend field at Laurel Park.
“We wish he was here in the Preakness. We were rooting for them when they were thinking about it,” Summers said.
“Unfortunately they didn’t make it here. That’s fine. Hopefully we can see him down the road somewhere.”
The trainer is hoping Golden Tempo’s handlers would enter the horse in the Triple Crown third jewel – the Belmont Stakes – to know who is the best horse of the Triple Crown season this year.
This year’s Preakness was raced in a subdued atmosphere in Laurel Park with attendance capped at 4,800.
The track’s future is uncertain – it may be converted into a training facility and Summers is saddened with the possibility, describing Laurel and Aqueduct as “foundation racetracks”.
“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,” he said.
The Triple Crown will conclude on June 6 with the Belmont Stakes, and run at Saratoga for a third consecutive year as renovations are completed at Belmont Park.
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