America’s Best Racing editor Patrick Reed presents four key takeaways from the 151^st Preakness Stakes May 16 and other races over the weekend at Laurel Park, which hosted the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown due to an ongoing reconstruction project at Pimlico Race Course.

Lopez, Gold, and Summers celebrate. (Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO)

POTENTIAL FULFILLED: Napoleon Solo was one of the leading prospects for the 2026 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve last fall after winning his first two starts in New York by a combined 11 ¾ lengths, including a Grade 1 win in the Champagne Stakes at Aqueduct. After a nearly five-month break, Napoleon Solo finished a well-beaten fifth in his 3-year-old debut in the Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park and then finished fifth again but with a much better effort five weeks later in the Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by Resorts World Casino.

The Liam’s Map colt was on the Kentucky Derby qualifying points bubble, but trainer Chad Summers and owner Al Gold, with advice from jockey Paco Lopez, decided to bypass joining the also-eligible list for the May 2 Kentucky Derby and pointed directly to the $2 million Preakness. That decision turned out to be a winning one. Lopez, back aboard after first riding Napoleon Solo in the Wood Memorial, gave his mount a perfect pace-pressing trip behind post-time favorite Taj Mahal. After getting first run on the tiring leader at the top of the stretch, Napoleon Solo had plenty left in the lane to defeat Iron Honor by 1 ¼ lengths. The win gave Gold, Summers, and Lopez their first victories in a Triple Crown race.

“The last few days we were worried – can (Napoleon Solo) go the distance, are we gonna get loose,” Gold told NBC’s Britney Eurton shortly after receiving a replica of the Woodlawn Vase in the winner’s circle. “And it was just the perfect scenario. Everything was just awesome… This is a crown jewel race, it’s the most important race we’ve won.”

Chad Summers told BloodHorse’s Sean Collins after the Preakness that the next target for Napoleon Solo would be the $1 million NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes July 18 at Monmouth Park.

BACK IN FORM: Unlike Napoleon Solo, Iron Honor was safely in the Kentucky Derby field based on points thanks to his win in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes earlier this year. After a disappointing seventh-place finish in the Wood Memorial, however, trainer Chad Brown decided to skip the run for the roses with the lightly raced colt and point to the Preakness. Brown had successfully made that Wood-to-Preakness move twice before with Cloud Computing and Early Voting each winning the Preakness at Pimlico in 2017 and 2022, respectively. Iron Honor came close to doing it for Brown once more. After looming a threat to Napoleon Solo at the top of the stretch, the Nyquist colt showed some greenness while switching leads late in the race and settled for second. Still, with that much improved overall effort, Iron Honor showed that he should be a colt to be reckoned with in the 3-year-old division going forward this season.

Ocelli (Eclipse Sportswire)

NO RACE FOR CLOSERS: Local hero Taj Mahal set a solid pace in the Preakness with Napoleon Solo sitting just to his outside. The opening fractions of :22.66 for a quarter-mile and :46.66 for a half-mile seemed to set things up for off-the-pace runners, including most prominently Ocelli and Incredibolt, who finished third and sixth, respectively, in a Kentucky Derby that also went fast early. The Preakness pace moderated by the time the field entered the far turn, however, and as it turned out, the horses positioned second, third, and fourth after three-quarters of a mile went on to finish first, second, and third in the Preakness with speedy Chip Honcho filling out the trifecta.

Both Ocelli and Incredibolt rallied but struggled to make up ground in the Laurel stretch. Ocelli finished fourth and Incredibolt fifth. Will either one of them wheel back in the mile-and-a-quarter Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets June 6 at Saratoga? Added distance could help both colts, but on the other hand, Golden Tempo, Renegade, and Chief Wallabee are all lying in wait.

My Miss Mo rolls in Black-Eyed Susan. (Eclipse Sportswire)

DELAYED GRATIFICATION: My Miss Mo qualified for the May 1 Longines Kentucky Oaks but was scratched by trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and instead rerouted to the George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes May 15 at Laurel. Sent off as the 8-5 favorite, the Uncle Mo filly was able to save enough ground under Tyler Gaffalione after breaking from the outside post position to take a short lead in early stretch, and then outfinished Jumping the Gun for her first stakes victory. It was the latest in string of high-profile stakes wins this year for Joseph, who trains two of the leading contenders in the older male division, White Abarrio and Skippylongstocking.

“I always say everything happens for a reason,” Joseph told BloodHorse after the win. “Could (My Miss Mo) have won the (Kentucky) Oaks? Probably not. Today we're going to enjoy this as much as (winning) the Oaks.”