It's not often that a "first" can happen in a race that has existed since 1873, but the 151st edition of the Preakness Stakes is one that will forever have it's place in history as the first edition of the race ever to be held at Laurel Park, about 20 miles south of the $2 million race's usual home at Pimlico Race Course.

Pimlico is currently in the process of a rebuild, an event that has been patiently waited for many years as the grandstand severely decayed. For Maryland racing, they will hope that patience will pay off with a rejuvenation of the iconic middle jewel of the Triple Crown. In fact, they will hope that patience pays off for them in the exact same way it did for the connections of Napoleon Solo, who, after a frustrating winter redeemed himself to become one of this season's leading 3-year-olds with a never-in-doubt 1 1/4-length Preakness triumph over Iron Honor May 16 at Laurel.

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Despite being the only Grade 1 winner in the 14-horse field, many questions surrounded the son of Liam's Map after he started his sophomore campaign with two consecutive fifth-place finishes. Still, confidence in Napoleon Solo never wavered in trainer Chad Summers and owner Al Gold.

"I told a lot of people that I thought this was going to be the best performance of his life," Summers said.

The connections made a decision last fall to skip shipping to California for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile following Napoleon Solo's dominant 6 1/2-length triumph in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Aqueduct. That move was made purely with getting the colt into the Kentucky Derby starting gate in mind, however, several setbacks would soon persist.

Napoleon Solo finished fifth in his 3-year-old debut in the Grade 2 Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes. The colt's training improved afterward, but then a bruised heel forced him to enter Napoleon Solo in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino short on preparation without a breeze in over two weeks.

"Nothing went right to start his 3-year-old year. We started off a little bit behind the eight ball," Summers said.

Napoleon Solo still would have been able to enter the Kentucky Derby as it turned out because he would have been able to draw into the race off the also eligible list. Instead of waiting to see whether or not they would get in, however, and after what Summers said was 300-400 thousand phone calls, he and Gold shifted their attention to the Preakness.

"I'm still in a little bit of disbelief," Summers said about being rewarded for his patience with the victory. "I just feel like I'm proud of the horse. I felt like the horse deserved it. I feel like I let the horse down with his two fifth-place finishes in his first two starts (this year). I felt like I let Gold Square down trying to get to the Derby. So, it's just an omen to get back here, and this is the icing on the cake to get the victory."

Summers and Gold have united in purchasing horses for the last six years. One of their top successes was dual Grade 1 winner Cyberknife, who was trained by Brad Cox. Gold said he's often beaten-up Summers as he does all his trainers, but at the end of the day the two are close.

Napoleon Solo in the winner's circle. (Tim Sudduth/Eclipse Sportswire)

"I talk to him six, seven times a day," Gold said. "We got a lot of horses together, and I'm more than grateful for the job he did. Tremendous job in getting all these horses ready, especially this one."

Gold also sent praise to jockey Paco Lopez, who he credited with pushing for starting the horse in the Preakness after the Wood Memorial. The only question would be whether he could handle the distance. Much talk was also made of the amount of early speed entered in the race.

"We said there's a lot of speed in the race, but the fractions that they run aren't really speed fractions," Summers said. "We felt like his biggest asset is his cruising speed. We just hoped somebody would give us a little target in front."

The plan worked to perfection as Lopez got his target chasing favored Taj Mahal, who sent to the lead from the rail. Napoleon Solo tracked fractions of :22.66, :46.66, and 1:12.08 before moving into the lead on the far turn.

From there, Lopez took several looks back for competition, showing his confidence as he stayed strong through the lane. Iron Honor would emerge from mid-pack to make a run but would never get close enough to threaten as Napoleon Solo stopped the clock in 1:58.69.

Chip Honcho, who sat fourth down the backstretch, stayed on to finish third. Kentucky Derby closers Ocelli and Incredibolt finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Taj Mahal faded to 10th.

The victory was a first in the Preakness and the Triple Crown for Lopez, Summers, and Gold.

The Preakness scene at Laurel was certainly different than a normal year at Pimlico given the capped crowd size of 4,800 in attendance. Still, the crowd was vocal and vibrant throughout the day, especially on the apron as the Preakness field turned for home.

Peakness trophies for everyone! (Carlos Calo/Eclipse Sportswire)

In some ways, this Preakness felt like a celebration and swansong for Laurel in it's one chance to hold the state's feature race before its scheduled closure when Pimlico assumes year-round Maryland racing at the completion of construction.

Napoleon Solo will now be the answer to a very interesting trivia question. He will be the last horse to win a Grade 1 race at both Laurel and Aqueduct, which is scheduled to run its last race ever on June 28. Like Maryland, New York will condense into a newly renovated Belmont Park as the year-round home for racing (with the exception of summer racing at Saratoga Race Course).

"We're going to love this and remember this for the rest of our lives," Summers said. "I thought Laurel put on a great show this week.”

Plans are not in play for Napoleon Solo in the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets at Saratoga on June 6. As a New Jersey native, Gold cherishes the July 18 Grade 1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park, a race he won with Cyberknife in 2022. Summers said that will be the next major target for Napoleon Solo.

"How we get there, we'll talk about," Summers said. "We'll see how he comes out of the race but our first immediate goal is the Haskell."

Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo is set for a start in the Belmont after connections chose not to pursue the Triple Crown in the Preakness. With Napoleon Solo passing on the Belmont, it will mark the first time since 2023 that the Derby and Preakness winner will not meet in the Triple Crown's final leg.

"I'm excited to see how the rest of the year plays out. I think it's a wide-open race for champion 3-year-old," Summers said. "I'll take nothing away from the great race Golden Tempo ran in the Derby. We wish he were here in the Preakness. We were rooting for them when they were thinking about it. Unfortunately, they didn't make it here. That's fine. Hopefully we can see him down the road somewhere."