Napoleon Solo fires effortless bullet ahead of Haskell
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ELMONT, N.Y. – On a gorgeous quiet morning on Long Island, Preakness Stakes winner Napoleon Solo made a loud statement that he’s ready for his trip to the Jersey Shore.
After skipping a workout last week due to the excessive heat that enveloped the area, Napoleon Solo worked a fast half-mile in 46.89 seconds on Thursday morning over the Belmont Park training track in preparation for his start in the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell on July 18 at Monmouth Park. With regular morning rider Emily Ellingwood on board and going in company with the multiple stakes-winning filly Dry Powder – pointing to the Molly Pitcher on the same July 18 card – Napoleon Solo went his first quarter in 23.83, his second quarter in 22.96, and galloped out five furlongs in 58.83 and six furlongs in 1:11.94.
“He’s just different,” trainer Chad Summers said. “Emily didn’t move a muscle on him. She’s just sitting there. He probably could have gone a second and a half faster if we wanted to; he’s just a different kind of horse, he just does things so effortlessly.
“Good horses have their idiosyncrasies,” Summers added. “They’re not the easiest horses to train. My team’s done a great job with him but when it’s show day, it’s show day, and what he showed me today is very similar to what we saw going into the Preakness.”
Summers said he planned five works for Napoleon Solo between the Preakness and Haskell, but said when he came down from Saratoga to work the horse last week, the weather on Long Island was too hot.
“It just wasn’t worth it,” Summers said. “I felt like he was in a good spot where we were at and I wasn’t going to sit here and have him breeze and have heat stroke.”
Summers said Napoleon Solo would ship to Monmouth Park on Sunday following his morning training at Belmont.
Entries for the Haskell are to be taken Tuesday. As of Thursday, in addition to Napoleon Solo, those expected to enter were Further Ado, Iron Honor, The Puma, Baby Vino, and Ocelli, the latter’s status confirmed on Thursday.
Paco Lopez is scheduled to ride Napoleon Solo in the Haskell. Lopez was just hit with a 30-day suspension by the New York stewards for “gross careless riding” as it related to the Wild Applause Stakes on July 3 at Saratoga. In that race, Lopez was aboard the Summers-trained I Love Giraffes when that horse clipped heels with Pillar of Beauty to her inside. I Love Giraffes fell, unseating Lopez. Subsequently, three horses fell, unseating their riders.
I Love Giraffes suffered a fractured hip, but the three other horses were deemed to be uninjured. Javier Castellano, who rode Paris Carver, will miss three weeks due to a lower back injury.
“At this point in time, we’re committed to Paco,” Summers said. “We felt like Paco gave us a good ride on Friday. I feel awful about the situation. I don’t want any horses or riders to get hurt.”
Summers said he wanted to see the drone shot before offering a definitive opinion on the incident in the Wild Applause Stakes. However, Summers said “from everything I’ve seen on the pan shot it looked to me like what Tyler Gaffalione told me, like Paco told me that Junior [Alvarado on Pillar of Beauty] came out.”
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