Napoleon Solo points to Haskell Stakes after Preakness win

Napoleon Solo wasted no time turning a Preakness celebration into a summer plan. The morning after his 1 1/4-length victory over Iron Honor at Laurel Park, Chad Summers said the colt came out of the race well and is pointed toward the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park as the next likely stop.

That matters because the Preakness did more than add a classic trophy to the resume of Gold Square LLC. It put a gray or roan colt, foaled Feb. 17, 2023, by Liam’s Map out of Atomic Blonde, by Scat Daddy, into the center of the 3-year-old picture with momentum and a clear path. Paco Lopez rode Napoleon Solo in the Preakness, and the victory lifted his career earnings to $1,560,520 after five starts, according to Equibase. More important for the road ahead, Summers said the horse has been doing enough in the morning that he may not need another race before the Haskell, giving the barn several weeks to keep him fresh while the stakes keep rising.

The Haskell is scheduled for Saturday, July 18, 2026, at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey, with a $1 million purse. It is a 1 1/8-mile Grade 1 for 3-year-olds and a Breeders’ Cup Classic “Win and You’re In” race, which gives Napoleon Solo a direct bridge from a spring classic to the championship division later in the year. Monmouth has already built the race into the centerpiece of a stakes schedule worth $5.85 million over its 50-day meet, and the track’s summer showcase is expected to draw the nation’s top sophomores.

Summers has not boxed himself into one road yet, saying the team will nominate to everything and keep options open, including the Belmont Stakes. Still, the Haskell appears to fit the horse and the moment better than a detour. The field could be deep, with Summers mentioning The Puma and Crude Velocity as possible names, while other major barns, including those of Todd Pletcher and Brad Cox, could still enter the picture. That kind of opposition would make the Haskell more than a victory lap.

For Napoleon Solo, the Preakness answered the spring question. The Haskell will ask a harder one: whether he is simply a classic winner or the horse to beat in the second half of the 3-year-old season. Journalism won last year’s Haskell and turned that race into a Breeders’ Cup Classic berth; Napoleon Solo now has the same opportunity, along with the chance to prove the Preakness was the start of a bigger run, not the peak.