LAUREL, Md. — Napoleon Solo held off a late charge from Iron Honor to win the 151st Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Laurel Park, delivering the first Triple Crown–race victory for trainer Chad Summers and jockey Paco Lopez.
Napoleon Solo, sent off at 7-1, overtook early leader Taj Mahal near the top of the stretch and finished 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Iron Honor. Chip Honcho finished third. The winner returned $17.80 on a $2 bet.
Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo was kept out of the race, leaving a wide-open field of 14 — the maximum entry and the largest Preakness field since 2011. The race was run at Laurel this year while Pimlico undergoes rebuilding, and attendance was limited to 4,800, producing a quieter atmosphere than fans usually expect for the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.
Taj Mahal, the morning-line longshot turned 9-2 favorite, set the early pace and covered the first quarter-mile in 22.66 seconds. The unbeaten colt couldn’t sustain the lead and faded to 10th after briefly controlling much of the race. Iron Honor, who had been listed at 9-2 on the morning line and was 8-1 at post time, rallied late but came up short.
Napoleon Solo had shown top form as a juvenile, winning the Champagne Stakes by 6 1/2 lengths last October, but he entered the Preakness off two fifth-place finishes this year in the Fountain of Youth and the Wood Memorial. Iron Honor was also in the Wood Memorial, finishing a couple of spots behind, making Saturday a higher-stakes rematch that again favored Napoleon Solo.
“All year long, fifth place, fifth place. Everyone said he wasn’t as good as he was in the Champagne,” Summers said. “This was a win here. People will say it wasn’t against the best of the best. We’ll find out the rest of the year.”
Three horses that ran in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness — Ocelli (7-1), Incredibolt (5-1) and Robusta (25-1) — finished fourth, fifth and ninth, respectively.
Trainer Brittany Russell had a shot to become the first female trainer to win the Preakness after recent success at the Derby, but her Laurel-based colt Taj Mahal, who had run all three of his races at Laurel, could not hold the lead. Bettors likely factored the colt’s local experience into making him the slight favorite.
Summers and Lopez celebrated their first victory in a Triple Crown race as Napoleon Solo delivered a timely rebound and a Preakness trophy for connections and owners.