Napoleon Solo gives Al Gold career-defining Preakness victory

Al Gold spent 55 years chasing a moment like this, and Napoleon Solo delivered it at Laurel Park, turning the 151st Preakness Stakes into the defining win of Gold’s racing life. The Liam’s Map colt surged home by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:58.69 for 1 3/16 miles, with Paco Lopez in the saddle for trainer Chad Summers and Gold Square LLC. Iron Honor ran second and Chip Honcho was third, while Napoleon Solo returned $17.80 to win and the 10-9 exacta paid $107.20.

For Gold, the result carried a weight that went far beyond a graded stakes trophy. The 70-year-old owner, who has followed racing since his teens in New Jersey, said he was “still a little numb” after the trophy presentation. He had already lived through one emotional high point when Cyberknife won the 2022 Haskell Stakes, a victory that came with even more meaning because the colt was named for the medical procedure that helped save Gold’s life during prostate cancer treatment. The Preakness, though, put Gold in a different class of winner’s circle, one reserved for classic owners.

The race itself gave Napoleon Solo the kind of résumé boost that changes how the rest of the division looks at him. He had flashed elite speed before, winning the 2025 Champagne Stakes by 6 1/2 lengths, but his spring form had been uneven, with fifth-place finishes in the Fountain of Youth and the Wood Memorial after a hoof bruise. Summers and Gold had even weighed the Pat Day Mile and a Kentucky Derby path before settling on the Preakness, and that call paid off when Napoleon Solo controlled the race early and stayed strongest when the pressure came. The performance confirmed that his speed translates over two turns and makes him a live player for the rest of the season.

The 151st Preakness also stood out for its setting and its field. Because Pimlico Race Course is being rebuilt, the classic was run at Laurel Park for the first time, and the race drew a full field of 14 starters, the first 14-horse Preakness since 2011. Iron Honor went off as the 9-2 morning-line favorite, but Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo skipped the race, removing any Triple Crown sweep possibility. That left Napoleon Solo to own the day, and now Gold Square and Summers leave Laurel with a classic winner and a colt whose next target can shape the rest of the 3-year-old picture.