Preakness Hero Napoleon Solo Changes Hands, Haskell Remains Next Target
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Just two weeks after delivering a memorable victory in the Preakness Stakes, dual Grade 1 winner Napoleon Solo has been sold by owner Al Gold to ESPOIR USA, Inc., marking a significant ownership change for one of the nation’s top 3-year-olds.
While the financial terms of the transaction remain private, the colt will continue to be trained by Chad Summers, and his immediate racing plans are unchanged. The Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 18 remains the primary objective.
Bloodstock agent David Ingordo, who assisted in arranging the deal, said the son of Liam’s Map is expected to continue racing through next season before eventually entering stud at Lane’s End following the conclusion of his racing career.
Neither the purchase price nor the identity of the principal behind ESPOIR USA was disclosed. Still, considering Gold’s long-standing pursuit of a horse capable of competing at the sport’s highest level, it is clear the offer was substantial enough to prompt a difficult decision.
“It was just a business decision, that’s all,” Gold said Friday morning while watching training at Saratoga Race Course. “It’s very hard. I have mixed feelings about it.”
The sale comes at a time when Napoleon Solo’s profile has never been higher. Summers acquired the colt for only $40,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2024, a purchase that has turned into one of the sport’s most remarkable recent success stories.
Napoleon Solo announced his talent early, winning both of his starts at age 2, including a dominant 6 1/2-length victory in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Aqueduct.
His sophomore season has featured both adversity and triumph. The colt finished fifth in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park in February and later ran fifth in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in April. That Wood Memorial effort came only one week after a bruised foot forced him to miss the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby.
Everything came together in the Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park. Tracking pacesetter Taj Mahal through the early stages, Napoleon Solo seized command turning for home and powered clear to defeat Iron Honor by 1 1/4 lengths.
With negotiations underway, the colt did not record a workout for more than a week following the Preakness as the ownership transfer was finalized.
For Gold, the timing of the sale creates an emotional wrinkle heading into the Haskell. A longtime Monmouth Park supporter who once lived near the Jersey Shore track, Gold captured the Haskell in 2022 with Cyberknife, a victory he has often described as one of the most meaningful of his career.
Now, he expects to be watching this year’s race from the grandstand without an ownership interest in the horse he helped develop.
“I’m going to feel like [crap],” Gold said. “I’m going to sit in the box with my friends — one of whom it’s his 80th birthday — they’ve had boxes on the finish line for 40 years. I’m going to root for him because it’s him, but I’ll have very mixed feelings.”
Summers acknowledged the unusual circumstances but expressed gratitude that the new ownership group elected to leave the colt in his care.
“Very appreciative of everything that Al did to get us to this point,” Summers said. “It’s going to feel awkward putting different blinkers and different silks on him, but Napoleon’s still Napoleon and we’re excited to make him champion 3-year-old at the end of the year, and they can hold the trophy up together.
“I’m appreciative of the new owner allowing us to keep the horse.”
For now, the horse remains the same even if the name on the ownership papers has changed. And if Napoleon Solo can continue the momentum he generated in the Preakness, the road to divisional honors could very well run through Monmouth Park next month.
