Napoleon Solo hustled to first place at the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, coming out on top against 13 other horses in what is the race’s biggest field in 15 years.
Napoleon Solo entered the race with 8-1 morning odds and was tailing the favorite, Taj Mahal, at the beginning of the race before eventually pulling ahead. It was jockey Paco Lopez’s second Preakness but his first win.
Trainer Chad Summers also claimed his first win in the Preakness, which has a $2 million purse.
Iron Honor had been the morning line favorite at 9-2, but he was an 8-1 shot by the time the horses entered the starting gate.
Taj Mahal broke to the lead early and covered the first quarter-mile in 22.66 seconds, but trainer Brittany Russell’s unbeaten horse couldn’t hold on and was passed by Napoleon Solo, 7-1 by race time, near the top of the stretch. Iron Honor was a threat late but came up 1 1/4 lengths short.
Chip Honcho was third.
The second jewel of the Triple Crown was held at Laurel Park in Maryland for the first time due to a major renovation project at Pimlico Race Course, which is expected to be completed next year.
Although the 1 3/16-mile long race was held a smaller venue, the Run for the Black-Eyed Susans was stacked with horses. The last time 14 horses raced in the Preakness was in 2011, when Shackleford beat Derby winner Animal Kingdom by half a length.
It is another year without a Triple Crown contender because Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo skipped the Preakness Stakes. Trainer Cherie DeVaux, the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner, said she wanted to give Golden Tempo “a little more time following such a tremendous effort.”
contributed to this report.
