Napoleon Solo Wins The 151st Preakness at 7-1 And Original Syndicate Member Elio Picked The Winner And Absolutely Nailed The Race
For the last week, racing fans like me complained about how little real talent there was in the 151st Preakness. In fact, there was only one Grade 1 winner in the field.
So, of course, that one Grade 1 winner took down the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
Sent off at 7-1 (he was about 10-1 loading into the gate, so the CAWs crushed it ... shocker), Napoleon Solo took down the Preakness for trainer Chad Summers and jockey Paco Lopez.
He actually sat a perfect trip in the win. He was able to rate off of #1 Taj Mahal into the far turn. He took over that one at the top of the stretch. Pretty straightforward race. I thought there would be more speed.
Iron Honor came calling, but Solo got brave and dug in on the rail, winning by a length and a quarter. Chip Honcho and Derby-winning jockey Jose Ortiz got third.
The winner paid a generous $17.80 for every $2 you bet to win. If you were paying attention to a pizza-making member of The Syndicate, you cashed big.
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Elio! Nailed it! Yes!
Elio had quality family time on Saturday and ended up watching the race later in his car. I love this.
Just a great call. Napoleon Solo's Wood Memorial was better than it looked, and you could make the case that he had the most raw talent of anyone in the field.
If you read Barstool's racing blogger, you did okay, too.
I'm going to play #10 Napoleon Solo in King of the Track. I'm looking for a bigger payout, and the longer the price, the better our chances of getting it. He'll be a better price than my top pick in the race, because people will look at his last race as bad. He had to run super fast early, and holding 5th was a pretty good effort. He'll need the right trip in here, but I can see him with the lead late, and if he gets brave, he can win. A lot of talent here.
I think he said the same thing on Picks Central on Friday, whoever he is. Hopefully, we get a clip of that.
It was a weird Preakness. Laurel felt very quiet from what I saw. And no Derby winner there stinks. But Napoleon Solo ran a great race and was a deserving winner.
Congrats to the connections - can't wait for the Belmont three weeks from now!
Patrick Smith. Getty Images.
