Posted inNews

Preakness Star Napoleon Solo (44) Skips Belmont, Sets Sights on Haskell Showdown

No CommentsPosted inNews

The longtime Jersey Shore horseplayer-turned-owner, now best known as the man behind Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Napoleon Solo (44), is leaning hard into his roots. Instead of rolling the dice in the Belmont Stakes (G1) at Saratoga on June 6, Gold and trainer Chad Summers are mapping a path straight to the Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park on July 18.

The first hint came almost as soon as Napoleon Solo (44) had finished etching his name into Triple Crown history. Moments after the gray colt's 1 ¼-length score over Iron Honor (46) in the 151st Preakness at Laurel Park, Gold was asked if this was the biggest win of his career. He said it was second – behind his 2022 Haskell victory with Cyberknife, named for the cancer treatment that helped save his life during a battle with prostate cancer.

For Gold, that's not just sentimentality; that's loyalty.

Now 70 and retired from the real estate game, Gold splits his time between Saratoga Springs and Florida, but his racing heart never left the Jersey Shore. He's been walking through the Monmouth Park turnstiles for about 50 years, and the Haskell is the race that changed his life. So when he was asked again the day after the Preakness where Napoleon Solo (44) was headed next, his answer was simple: “Yes, the Haskell is next.”

Summers has echoed that thinking publicly in the days since, and the Preakness hero came out of the race in fine order, playful and full of himself back at Belmont, according to his trainer. All signs point toward Oceanport, not Saratoga, for his next big dance.

Clearing the air on the post-race quip

One small side note from Preakness night stirred more dust than it deserved. During the NBC telecast, reporter Britney Eurton mentioned that Gold had another horse in Summers' barn.

“We have another horse running, we just — as soon as you stop talking, we're leaving,” Gold shot back with a grin.

Some viewers took the line as rude. Gold later apologized, saying he never meant it as nasty, just a joking “let's hustle to the next race” remark from a lifelong bettor still wired the way regulars are on a busy card.

Why the Belmont doesn't fit Napoleon Solo (44)

From a sporting perspective, passing the Belmont to target the Haskell makes plenty of sense.

First, there were distance doubts heading into the Preakness itself. The race at Laurel Park, shifted from Pimlico while that track is rebuilt, was contested over 1 3/16 miles on a fast track with a bulky 14-horse field — the largest Preakness field in 15 years. Sent off at around 7-1, Napoleon Solo (44) used his tactical speed to sit just off the favorite, Taj Mahal, took over turning for home, and had to dig in late to hold off the sustained rally of Iron Honor (46), stopping the clock in 1:58.69.

He answered the 1 3/16-mile question, but just barely, and he did it with a trip that maximized his speed and positional advantage. The Belmont this year, run at Saratoga due to ongoing work at Belmont Park, stretches to 1 ¼ miles — the same trip as the Kentucky Derby. The Haskell, by contrast, is 1 1/8 miles around two turns at Monmouth Park, a distance that should play more squarely into the wheelhouse of a fast, tactical 3-year-old like Napoleon Solo (44).

On paper, the Belmont offers $2 million in purse money to the Haskell's $1 million, plus a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland for the Haskell winner. Money and prestige are tempting, but Gold and Summers are choosing the route that gives them the best chance to keep their colt happy, healthy, and effective through the summer. Three demanding Grade 1 races at classic-type distances in just five weeks is a risk; spacing things out and cutting back a sixteenth of a mile is a lot easier on a developing 3-year-old.

There's also a jockey factor. Paco Lopez, who gave Napoleon Solo (44) a sharp, aggressive ride in the Preakness for his first Triple Crown victory, is synonymous with Monmouth Park. He's the perennial leading rider there, with 12 riding titles — including the last seven in a row — and is bearing down on a record-tying 13th championship at the Shore track.

For all that success, Lopez has never won the Haskell. To notch his home track's biggest prize, and do it aboard a Preakness winner he already knows like the back of his hand, would be a career-defining moment.

“It would mean a lot to me to win the Haskell with all of the other things I have accomplished at Monmouth Park and with all of the titles I have won there,” Lopez said. “Winning the Haskell would be special for me. This is my home track. That's the biggest race we have. I'm pretty sure that's the only thing missing from all my years riding at Monmouth Park.”

Rematches on separate stages: Belmont vs. Haskell

With the Triple Crown off the table after Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo (32) skipped the Preakness, fans will at least get the next best thing: Derby and Preakness rematches, they just won't be in the same race.

The Belmont is shaping up to look a lot like the Derby. The projected lineup includes Golden Tempo (32), who wired the Derby, and runner-up Renegade (37). Several other Derby alumni are also being pointed that way: Chief Wallabee (36) (4th in the Derby), Commandment (37) (7th), Emerging Market (37) (10th), and Potente (33) (12th). They could be joined by Chip Honcho (46), who closed for third in the Preakness, the winless but consistent Ocelli (45) (3rd in the Derby, 4th in the Preakness), Ottinho, and Talk (0) to Me Jimmy (46).

The Haskell, on the other hand, looks like the Preakness redux. Napoleon Solo (44) and Iron Honor (46), who were clearly best in Maryland, appear headed for a rematch at Monmouth. Other early Haskell possibles include Hedge (39) Ratio (42), the speedy Crude Velocity (39), and The Puma (35). Growth Equity (43) is on the long-range radar for both races, and his connections will likely let the complexion of each field and his training schedule decide where he lands.

At this stage on the Triple Crown calendar, everything remains somewhat fluid — the Belmont isn't until the first Saturday in June and the Haskell is more than eight weeks away — but the early contours of both fields are taking shape.

2026 Belmont Stakes fair odds (projected)

Official post positions, morning-line odds and confirmed entrants will be released after the post draw on Monday, June 1, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET. Below is a fair-odds line for top Belmont candidates based on current information; numbers are an analyst's estimate of each horse's true winning chance, not the track's morning line.

PP Horse Trainer Fair Odds
TBD Renegade (37) T. Pletcher 9/5
TBD Golden Tempo (32) C. DeVaux 9/2
TBD Chief Wallabee (36) W. Mott 5/1
TBD Commandment (37) B. Cox 5/1
TBD Emerging Market (37) C. Brown 7/1
TBD Growth Equity (0) C. Brown 14/1
TBD Potente (33) B. Baffert 16/1
TBD Ocelli (45) W. Beckman 20/1
TBD Chip Honcho (46) S. Asmussen 22/1
TBD Ottinho C. Brown 25/1

Last updated: 05/18/2026

As the dust settles from Laurel and eyes turn toward Saratoga and the Jersey Shore, one thing is clear: Napoleon Solo (44) won't be chasing a mile-and-a-quarter grind in the Belmont. Instead, he'll be heading home — in a sense — to Monmouth Park, where his owner, his jockey, and his running style all say the same thing: the Haskell is the goal.

Image Credits

Featured Image Credit

Belmont at the Big A race via Wikimedia Commons by Mike L Photo's with usage type - Creative Commons License

 

Comments

No comments yet. Why don’t you start the discussion?

Talkback