BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – Napoleon Solo, unbeaten in two starts as a 2-year-old including a powerful victory in the Grade 1 Champagne at Aqueduct last October, is working his way toward his 3-year-old debut, which will likely come in the next four to six weeks.
On Wednesday, Napoleon Solo breezed a half-mile in 49.05 seconds at the Palm Meadows training center. It was Napoleon Solo’s third breeze of the year and first beyond three furlongs. Trainer Chad Summers said he caught Napoleon Solo’s last quarter in 24 seconds and had him galloping out six furlongs in 1:16.
Summers said he is looking at three options for Napoleon Solo’s first start of the year – the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth on Feb. 28 at Gulfstream Park, the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham at Aqueduct the same day, or the Grade 3, $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby on March 7.
The Gotham could make some sense in that it is run as a one-turn mile, the same configuration as the Champagne, which Napoleon Solo won by 6 1/2 lengths on Oct. 4.
Summers and owner Al Gold opted to bypass the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Napoleon Solo then developed a little bit of a shin issue, which forced the horse to miss a little bit of time but hasn’t impacted what Summers wants to do with him.
“We’re right on pace where we want to be,” Summers said Wednesday. “We want six works before his first race and we’re halfway there. Very happy with how he’s doing.”
Napoleon Solo carved out some very fast fractions in the Champagne – a half-mile in 44.24 seconds, six furlongs in1:07.88, and seven furlongs in 1:20.90 before completing the mile in 1:34.57.
Summers said if Napoleon Solo is to develop into a legitimate Kentucky Derby candidate he’s going “to need to have a little bit of an off switch. He’s never going to win the Derby running the way he ran in the Champagne.”
Summers said he is starting to see signs of Napoleon Solo maturing.
“He was not easy to ride,” Summers said, noting that jockey Emily Ellingwood did a good job handling him last year. “Going on and coming off the track, that 'hi-ho, Silver' approach he had, he’s doing that a lot less.”
Meanwhile, Summers reiterated Wednesday that unless a horse like Nearly, Cannoneer, or Incredibolt comes out of Saturday’s Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream, he intends to scratch Game for It from that race. Game for It, a son of Known Agenda who won his debut going six furlongs on Dec. 10 at Aqueduct, is likely to be re-routed to the Sam Davis on Feb. 7 at Tampa Bay Downs.
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