It’s quite possible that in order to be successful again, Napoleon Solo will have to be turned back in distance. After all, he went 2 for 2 in races contested around one turn as a 2-year-old, including an electric performance winning the Grade 1 Champagne, a one-turn mile race, at Aqueduct last fall. But his connections feel there have been legitimate excuses for Napoleon Solo’s two defeats in graded stakes run around two turns to begin his 3-year-old year. So, owner Al Gold and trainer Chad Summers want to give Napoleon Solo another shot in a two-turn race, the $2 million Preakness on May 16 at Laurel Park. In two starts this year, Napoleon Solo finished fifth, beaten 11 3/4 lengths, in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park and fifth, beaten 2 3/4 lengths, in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. Summers believes there are reasons why Napoleon Solo did not fare better in those races. In the Fountain of Youth, he was coming off a layoff, wasn’t fully cranked, and broke poorly. :: Get ready for Preakness with DRF past performances, picks, and betting strategies! A heel bruise forced Napoleon Solo to scratch from the Arkansas Derby in late March and forced him to miss a workout leading up to the Grade 2 Wood Memorial on April 4, where he faded after setting the pace. Ocelli, third in the Wood, came back to run a strong third in the Kentucky Derby. “The rust of the first race, the ailment of the heel bruise are behind him,” Summers said. “To me, he looks like he’s finally the horse that we want him to be and just kind of continue from where he was as a 2-year-old.” Since the Wood, Napoleon Solo has worked three times at Belmont Park. On May 2, he blitzed six furlongs in 1:10, a time rarely seen for that distance over the training track. Summers had him galloping out a mile in 1:36. “It’d be one thing if I’m pushing him to come up with those fast workout times and you’re trying to act like Secretariat in that movie going into the Belmont Stakes,” Summers said. “It’s just him. He’s always been a naturally, really, really good work horse.” Summers doesn’t discount the idea that later this summer Napoleon Solo could end up in a race like the Grade 1 Allen Jerkens at seven furlongs. But for now, Summers likes the idea of taking a shot, especially in a race where there are no other Grade 1 winners signed on to run. “If he can sit off and then have that burst of energy at Laurel where at least we’re running to the first wire and not the second, it might be tough for the closers to come from behind,” Summers said. Paco Lopez, who rode Napoleon Solo for the first time in the Wood Memorial, will ride the horse back in the Preakness. “Paco wants to win so much,” Summers said. “He’ll ride a $5,000 claimer at Parx on Monday and a Grade 1 on Saturday and he’ll give you the same ride. He lets horses do what they want to do, and I think that’s what this horse is all about.” Summers expects Napoleon Solo to have one more workout Saturday at Belmont before shipping to Laurel on Sunday. Busy day for Ortiz, DeVaux Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Jose Ortiz and trainer Cherie DeVaux made a quick trip from Kentucky to New York on Thursday to throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Yankees-Texas Rangers afternoon game. Neither was staying for the game as they were heading back to Louisville for Thursday night’s Churchill Downs card that began at 5 p.m. :: Get Preakness Betting Strategies for exclusive wagering insights, contender analysis, and more Ortiz will not have the opportunity to go for the Triple Crown aboard Golden Tempo, the horse he rode from last to first to win the Kentucky Derby at odds of 23-1, but he will ride the Preakness. Ortiz has picked up the mount on Chip Honcho, whom he rode to a maiden victory last November at Churchill. Ortiz said he wasn’t surprised that the decision was made for Golden Tempo to skip the Preakness and point to the Belmont on June 6. “She never in her career has run a horse back in two weeks, I wasn’t expecting this one to be the first one,” Ortiz said. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.