Napoleon Solo sold to ESPOIR USA, stays on track for Haskell Stakes

Napoleon Solo’s biggest move after the Preakness was not on the track but in the marketplace: the dual Grade 1 winner was sold by Al Gold to ESPOIR USA, Inc. for an undisclosed amount, while Chad Summers stayed on as trainer and the colt remained pointed to the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 18.

That continuity is the real story. The buyer’s principals were not disclosed, and ESPOIR USA was not listed in Equibase, but the racing plan did not budge. Napoleon Solo is expected to keep his summer schedule intact, stay in Summers’ barn, race as a 4-year-old next season and eventually retire to Lane’s End. In a sport where ownership changes can trigger an overhaul, this deal leaves the horse’s form cycle and target races untouched.

For Gold, the sale carried a heavy emotional side. Winning the 2026 Preakness Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths over Iron Honor was the fulfillment of a long chase, and the victory gave Gold his first Triple Crown race win after 55 years around the game. He had already taken the Haskell in 2022 with Cyberknife, which made the Monmouth Park race especially meaningful, and the sale came with obvious mixed feelings even if it made business sense.

Napoleon Solo’s rise explains why the market followed every detail. Bought for just $40,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September yearling sale, the son of Liam’s Map won the 2025 Champagne Stakes by 6 1/2 lengths and then added the Preakness after a season that included fifth-place finishes in the Fountain of Youth and Wood Memorial. A bruised foot knocked him out of the Arkansas Derby, but the setback never erased the broader appeal of a colt bred by John D. Gunther and Eurowest Bloodstock.

He was stabled at Belmont Park and went more than a week without training while the sale was pending, but the larger picture still points toward the same summer arc. Summers has said he wants Napoleon Solo to be champion 3-year-old by the end of the season, and the Haskell now sits as the next test that could sharpen that case. The paper trail changed. The ambition did not.