Haskell Stakes: Napoleon Solo out to validate Preakness success
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The lights on Preakness winner Napoleon Solo will remain bright for as long as the 3-year-old contends at the highest levels of racing, but trainer Chad Summers is not shying away from the moment. After springing an upset in Maryland, his colt will have the chance to cement himself among the best in his class in the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park.
“I don’t care who you are or what your accomplishments are or whatever,” Summers said. “At the end of the day, they’re going to get saddled up. They’re going to walk in the starting gate. Hopefully, the best horse will win.”
The Haskell is the featured race on a 14-race Saturday card at Monmouth, which includes seven stakes worth $2.85 million. The Haskell winner earns an automatic berth in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.
With five horses in the field of seven 3-year-olds listed under 6-1 on the morning line, the 2026 edition of the Haskell is a race full of notable names, rather than a single standout. Summers will be joined by powerhouse trainers Chad Brown and Brad Cox, alongside relatively new faces like Whit Beckman and Lindsay Schultz.
Further Ado and The Puma stand out as the most recognizable figures from the Road to the Kentucky Derby, but Napoleon Solo and Iron Honor finished first and second in the Preakness and will add a new chapter to their respective rivalry. Ocelli, the maiden who finished third in the Derby, was one of the few who came back to run in the Preakness and is now the richest winless horse in the history of racing.
Summers is at the center of it all with his Preakness winner, and he’s used to the excessive pomp and uncontrollable hype of the national stage. In many ways, he was shaped by it. When he received his trainer’s license in 2017 and immediately took charge of the Grade 1 winner Mind Your Biscuits, who passed away earlier this year, he was launching himself into the heart of the sport.
In his early days with Mind Your Biscuits, who took him on multiple trips to Dubai and the Breeders’ Cup, Summers said his relative lack of status as a trainer harmed the public perception of his champion sprinter.
He particularly disliked the depiction of the New York-bred as a “but” horse, who was implied to be overcoming his origin and connections to become a national contender. They were human-made narratives for an indifferent horse and capable horseman, who simply kept delivering. Napoleon Solo has done the same, and even after Espoir USA purchased him from New Jersey-based owner Al Gold after the Preakness, Summers remained his trainer.
“Very appreciative of the new ownership letting me and my team keep the horse,” Summers said. “He’s not a very easy horse to deal with, so I was glad that they saw that and appreciated that. We bought as a yearling and we’ve been managing him ever since, dealing with his idiosyncrasies as best we can.”
In his second start as a juvenile last year, the Liam’s Map colt took a bounding leap forward in the Grade 1 Champagne at Aqueduct, dominating eight rivals by 6 1/2 lengths with a 95 Beyer Speed Figure. It was his last start of the year and painted a pretty picture ahead of his 3-year-old campaign.
Because he won the Preakness, it’s easy to look back on Napoleon Solo’s fifth-place finishes in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and Grade 2 Wood Memorial with more grace.
At the time, they were highly concerning efforts that cost him a spot in the Kentucky Derby, but with one perfect trip under Paco Lopez in the Preakness, he regained his elite status. He has worked extremely sharp at Belmont Park ahead of the 1 1/8-mile Haskell.
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“He just gets so much out of his workouts,” Summers said. “It’s more about harnessing him than it is about having to ask him to do something. He’s like a kid in a candy store when he knows it’s work day. We do the best we can to not get him to breeze too fast. I know the times look fast, but believe me, he can work much, much faster if we wanted him to.”
Any knock on Napoleon Solo, who remains undefeated in Grade 1 company, begins and ends with the quality of this year’s Preakness field, as most Kentucky Derby contenders skipped the next leg at Laurel Park. Further Ado, the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the Haskell, defected after finishing 11th at Churchill Downs for Cox.
“My take on the Derby is it’s a race where things just have to go right,” Cox said. “You have to get the run of the race. Looking back on it, we didn’t get the run of the race. I think we’re definitely one of the better 3-year-olds in the country.”
Based in Kentucky, Further Ado wrote his ticket to the Derby earlier this year by winning the Grade 1 Blue Grass at Keeneland by 11 lengths with a 106 Beyer Speed Figure. He wasn’t quite as dominant in his post-Derby start, but he nevertheless bounced back to win the Grade 3 Matt Winn by two lengths on June 7 at Churchill Downs.
The Puma suffered a different kind of disappointment on Derby Day when trainer Gustavo Delgado had to scratch him because of a swollen pastern and minor skin infection. The Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby winner and Grade 1 Florida Derby runner-up skipped the Triple Crown and will enter the Haskell off a nearly four-month layoff.
Napoleon Solo was not the only one to bounce back with a strong effort in the Preakness, as the runner-up Iron Honor also entered the race off a disappointing effort in the Wood Memorial. He drew post 5 in the Haskell and could benefit from breaking inside of Napoleon Solo, who managed to save more ground than he did in Maryland.
Brown has discovered that timing is important for Iron Honor, who won the Grade 3 Gotham in his second career start in February.
“It seems this particular horse, as I’m getting to know him, gives me the feeling he needs a little more recovery time than some other top colts of mine,” Brown said. “Furthermore, it sure seems like now he’s gained enough experience, perhaps, to overcome some adversity with his trips and such, now that he’s run more.”
So much of the discourse around Ocelli concerns his winless status, and though it is of undeniable interest that he has the chance to earn $1 million before a victory in his 10th start on Saturday, Beckman correctly considers him a maiden in name only. After finishing third in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Preakness, the colt shipped to Thistledown and ran a game second in last month’s Grade 3 Ohio Derby.
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“You look at the cast of characters these races are drawing, and he’s run against a lot of them before,” Beckman said. “It’s one of those things, they all kind of come around at different times and find their moments. We’re hoping his moment comes through the summer.”
Schultz said she believes in winning the right way before taking big chances, and Baby Vino’s commanding performance in the $125,000 Pegasus gave her little to think about. After earning his maiden victory on the fifth try at Oaklawn Park in May, he shipped to Monmouth in June and stormed home to win the Haskell prep by 10 3/4 lengths.
“Monmouth is a historical track and it’s where I started training myself,” Schultz said. “My first summer was at Monmouth after we left Oaklawn. So it’s been a really good place for us and it’s a big deal to be in their premier race.”
Star Sweeper completes the field as a 30-1 longshot for trainer Lou Linder Jr. Though the colt has natural early speed and is breaking from the rail, Linder said he would prefer if his colt didn’t try to get involved in the early pace, as it is more sensible and profitable for the outsider to be running late.
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