Paco Lopez describes near-perfect ride as Napoleon Solo wins Preakness

Paco Lopez got the kind of trip every jockey draws up in the barn and rarely gets to ride out on the big stage. Napoleon Solo broke cleanly, settled in the right spot, and had enough left to finish the job in the 151st Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park, a near-perfect run that turned the 40,000-dollar purchase into a 17.80-dollar winner.

The clock made the case as much as the saddle talk did. Napoleon Solo finished in 1:58.69, the slowest Preakness in 75 years, after stalking early leader Taj Mahal through fractions of 22.66 and 44.66 seconds before taking over around the far turn. Taj Mahal, the post-time favorite at 9-2, faded to 10th, more than 13 lengths back, while the race itself unfolded at Laurel rather than Pimlico because of the ongoing redevelopment there. With a 14-horse field, the first since 2011, the 2026 running had the feel of a reset, and next year the race is expected to return to Pimlico.

That context matters for bettors because the winner’s trip was clean, while several of the beaten horses had legitimate traffic or pace complaints. Chad Summers said the plan was to sit near the pace, get a target, and make the first move, and he said Paco Lopez executed it to perfection. Summers also said Napoleon Solo had already been through the grind, with fifth-place finishes in the Fountain of Youth Stakes and the Wood Memorial before the Preakness turnaround, and he is now pointing the colt to the Haskell. The colt had also won the Champagne Stakes in October, a reminder that the ability was always there even if the form line had not fully caught up.

The excuses from the horses behind him were more nuanced. Chad Brown said Iron Honor was wide on both turns and that it likely cost him late, a trip worth upgrading next time. Jose Ortiz said Chip Honcho gave everything and offered no excuses, while Tyler Gaffalione said Ocelli was the only one making a run late after the speed did not come back. Jaime Torres said Incredibolt was in a good spot but simply did not have enough when the stretch battle began, and Luis Saez gave The Hell We Did the shortest read of the day: no excuse, perfect spot, just did not finish. Alex Achard said Great White broke well, settled mid-pack, and briefly looked like he had something at the three-eighths pole before flattening out.

The Preakness did not produce a Triple Crown drama, with Golden Tempo absent, but it did produce a sharp lesson in how a race can be won by placement as much as by talent. Napoleon Solo had both, and Lopez never gave the result away.