Ky. Derby pedigree: Napoleon Solo might lack staying power

Napoleon Solo set a high cruising speed Saturday in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes and played catch me if you can. They tried, and they couldn’t. As his counterpart from The Man from U.N.C.L.E., said, How’s that for entertainment?

Napoleon Solo carved out quick fractions of 22.53 and 44.24 seconds for the opening half-mile, with the It's Our Time in close pursuit. Around the turn, Napoleon Solo widened his advantage to 2 1/2 lengths after scorching six furlongs in 1:07.88, while It’s Our Time ran out of oats and faded to fourth. The pretty gray colt stopped the clock for the one-turn mile at a sharp 1:34.57, with a 13.67 final furlong over a speed-favoring track. It was 6 1/2 lengths back to Talkin, who bested Universe by 3/4 length.

Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map - Atomic Blonde, by Scat Daddy), bred by John D. Gunther and Eurowest Bloodstock, was purchased by Gold Square for just $40,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September yearling auction. Napoleon Solo gave trainer Chad Summers his second Grade 1 victory. Previously, Summers conditioned the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) hero Mind Your Biscuits.

With only two starts under his girth, Napoleon Solo has earned $319,000, a trip to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and 10 Kentucky Derby 2026 qualifying points.

Sire 

Liam’s Map (Unbridled’s Song – Miss Macy Sue, by Trippi) came within two races of an unbeaten 8-for-8 career. His only blemishes were a runner-up finish in his debut and a narrow defeat in the Whitney Stakes (G1), where Honor Code collared him late. Versatile from a mile to 1 1/8 miles, Liam’s Map earned top-level victories in the Woodward (G1) and the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Mile.

A son of Grade 3 winner Miss Macy Sue, Liam’s Map is a half-brother to leading sire Not This Time as well as stakes-winning half-sisters Matera and Taylor S, both by Tapit.

As a sire, Liam’s Map has sired multiple Grade 1 winners. His progeny include last year’s Blue Grass Stakes (G1) hero Burnham Square, bred on the same Liam’s Map–Scat Daddy cross, along with juvenile standouts Wicked Whisper, Basin and Juju’s Map, all of whom claimed Grade 1 titles at 2.

Race Lens statistics show that in the last five years, Liam’s Map has had 15 starters compete at 1 1/4 miles or longer on dirt. Of these, two found the winner’s circle and six finished second. Only one, Who Dey, managed a stakes victory, scoring at Mountaineer. The other, Winnin’onweekends, captured a $15,000 optional-claiming starter race at 1 1/4 miles in a modest 2:05.70.

Female family

Napoleon Solo’s female family is steeped in turf influences. He is the first foal out of stakes-winning turf sprinter-miler Atomic Blonde, not to be confused with the Germany-bred Atomic Blonde, a stakes-winning turf router who retired last year.

Atomic Blonde (Scat Daddy – Volver, by Danehill Dancer), bred by John D. Gunther and Eurowest Bloodstock, showed precocity as a juvenile. She broke her maiden in her second start, followed by an allowance win, and later finished third in the Winter Memories Stakes over a yielding Aqueduct course, all at 1 1/16 miles.

At three, Atomic Blonde opened her campaign with a victory in the 7 1/2-furlong South Beach Stakes at Gulfstream. That would be her final trip to the winner’s circle, as she finished off the board in her next four starts, three of them graded events. She retired with a record of 9: 3-1-1 and earnings of $188,710.

Napoleon Solo’s second dam was an indifferent competitor. She won three of 11 starts in France but was unplaced in her lone U.S. appearance. Aside from Atomic Blonde, her remaining four foals raced overseas without success.

Class resurfaces in the third generation of this female line, which produced six black-type earners, led by Australian Group 2 winner Gallic Chieftain.

Damsire

Tragedy followed Scat Daddy (Johannesburg – Love Style, by Mr. Prospector) throughout his racing and breeding careers. On the track, he won five of nine starts, highlighted by victories in the 2004 Champagne Stakes (G1) and the following year’s Florida Derby (G1). 

His career ended prematurely after he sustained a minor tendon injury and finished a disappointing 18th in the Kentucky Derby. Retired to stud, Scat Daddy had only five breeding seasons to make his impact before his untimely death after the 2015 season.

Despite his brief stud career, Scat Daddy’s legacy is firmly secure. From just over 1,000 starters, Scat Daddy’s progeny includes 794 winners, with 136 earning black type, including the undefeated Triple Crown champion Justify, now a leading stallion. And his daughters have proven to be exceptional broodmares.

As a broodmare sire, he already has produced 73 stakes winners, among them 2020 champion male sprinter Whitmore and this year’s 3-year-old sensation, Lambourn, who captured the Epsom Derby (G1)   and Irish Derby (G1). 

Triple Crown contender or pretender?

The Champagne bubbles have gone mostly flat in the last 32 years. The closest a recent winner came to Kentucky Derby glory was 2019 Champagne hero Tiz the Law, who managed a runner-up finish at Churchill Downs. The Champagne runners-up fared better in 2017 and 2018, as Code of Honor and Good Magic both finished second in the Kentucky Derby.

The last time a Champagne Stakes winner wore the roses was in 1992, when Sea Hero got the job done. The preceding 24 years were vintage.

During that vintage era, five Champagne heroes went on to Derby victories, one swept the Triple Crown, and two runners-up, Secretariat and Affirmed, also wore the Triple Crown mantle. The 1977 renewal featured the rare sight of Affirmed being beaten by his archrival Alydar.

But I digress.

This year’s Champagne victor, Napoleon Solo, is a muscular colt with high knee action. He’s professional, switches leads correctly, stays in his lane and can set or press the pace.

His pedigree suggests that he’ll be best as a miler, and Napoleon Solo may find 1 1/8 miles at the top of his distance range. His sire handled up to 1 1/8 miles, his dam was effective at 1 1/16 miles, and his second damsire, Danehill Dancer, was Ireland’s 1993 champion 2-year-old and a multiple Group 1-winning sprinter, so stamina in the first couple of generations is in short supply. 

Like his namesake from The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Napoleon Solo looks sharp, polished and ready for action. Whether he has the staying power to carry his Champagne form into the Derby remains the million-dollar question. For now, we may have to wait another year before a Champagne winner pops the cork in the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle.