Preakness 2026: What connections said after the race

Napoleon Solo held off Iron Honor to win Preakness Stakes 2026 on Saturday at Laurel park. Here is what the connections of the field had to say afterward.

Winning trainer Chad Summers (Napoleon Solo): "I felt like I maybe did a disservice to him all year long. You know, fifth place, fifth place. Everyone said he wasn't as good as he was in the Champagne. This was a win here. People will say it wasn't against the best of the best. We'll find out the rest of the year.

"That was the plan [to sit near the pace]. We felt he had a high cruising speed. Obviously, the question was, is he going to stay the distance? But there was no doubt about how fast he was. We said just play the break. We had a feeling that Sheldon [Russell on Taj Mahal] was going to protect the rail, the way he had been breezing, the way he had been training. So we said, 'Let's get a target, make the first move, don't let them come get us, and then put the pressure on them at the end of the race.' Paco executed the plan to perfection. We wanted to make sure we outbroke the 14 [Pretty Boy Miah]. We thought Pretty Boy Miah had a lot of early speed to him. So we wanted to make sure we outbroke him. After that, it was just see who else wanted to go, who else wanted to dance the dance from the inside. We had a feeling it might be Sheldon Russell. We felt like he might have to force the hand and use him as our target. And I told Paco just to make that first move. It seems a little daring, but we wanted to put the pressure on early to make them come catch us. That's what we did.

"There was talk [about going to the Kentucky Derby]. We were on the list. We thought about it, but there was a lot of speed in that race. Here, there looked like speed in the race.

"We're going to point to the Haskell. How we get to the Haskell, we'll find out.

"There's been a lot of trials and tribulations along the way. I've almost quit about three or four times. Been forced into retirement a few times. But we're still here, we're battling and we got the victory done on a horse we bought for $40,000, which I love the most."

Winning jockey Paco Lopez (Napoleon Solo): "We had a perfect run. I was able to keep the horse in the right position and got away from the gate well, which helped. Chad [Summers] had him ready. In the post parade, he started playing with the pony, so we broke away but came back and he was then very comfortable. He broke perfect and followed them around, there was a lot of speed in the race, and he was patient until it was time to move. The distance and everything was right for my horse today. In the Wood, he was in the one hole and I rushed him a little bit and he was running off a layoff.

"My first [Triple Crown] win. It's so exciting. I'm going to celebrate tonight."

Trainer Chad Brown (Iron Honor, second): "I am proud of the horse. He really ran a big race. He had a challenging trip from [Post 9] as it turns out. He was a bit wide on both turns and it probably took the starch out of him a little bit when it mattered late. The winner ran terrific, so hats off to him. He really ran a great race. He dug back in and finished it off. We couldn't quite get there today. I thought the horse relaxed better today [without blinkers for the first time]. He wasn't overly aggressive at all. I thought, from that standpoint, the horse was always traveling well. In hindsight, the way the race turned out, I would have preferred to have drawn further inside and saved some more ground. It looked like he was four deep into the first turn and four or five wide into the last turn. I'm not making any excuses, but it made for a very, very long trip for a horse that has never been that far. That said, he ranged up, tired and all, he almost got on even terms with the winner, but the winner found more. You really have to acknowledge how well the winner ran as well."

Jockey Flavien Prat (Iron Honor, second): "I had a good trip. I thought he had a good chance. He was traveling well, and turning for home, I thought I was going be able to make a move on the winner. I just couldn't go by him."

Trainer Steve Asmussen (Chip Honcho, third): "Jose gave him a really good trip. He 'handled' really nicely. He gave a lot of effort. There was a lot of pace in there, but he ran a great race."

Jockey Jose Ortiz (Chip Honcho, third): "We had a great trip. I'm very proud of him. No excuses. He gave it all he's got."

Trainer Whit Beckman (Ocelli, fourth): "It was one of those things, the speed held and we ran a great fourth. We'll take that all day. Just one of those things. You've got to have the racing luck along with the great trip that Tyler gave him. Today the speed was king. Listen, he's showing up against these horses.

"Speed held. Pretty simple. It didn't come back. He ran a good fourth with a pace that seemed to hold on. Can't be upset with that. Tyler rode a great race, saved ground, did everything he was supposed to do. Like I've said, you need racing luck along with the horse."

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione (Ocelli, fourth): "I thought it was a great effort from him. The speed didn't really come back today but he was the only one making a run. I'm proud of his effort."

Trainer Riley Mott (Incredibolt, fifth): "They went fast. We had one horse beat. It looked like down the backside he was traveling comfortably enough, but I guess it was obviously too much to do. He gave us a mild run, but he never threatened to hit the board."

Jockey Jaime Torres (Incredibolt, fifth): "We were in a perfect spot. Very fast in the beginning. Off the turn, just didn't have enough, but he gave me everything he had."

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. (Bull by the Horns, sixth): "Very happy with him. I thought he ran well. He wasn't beaten too far, made a big run. Obviously, the speed didn't really come back. The horse that won was on the pace, the second and third. We followed Incredibolt. He finished fifth; we finished probably a length and a half behind him. Overall, a good effort. I think it's a building effort. Those Grade 3 Derbys are everywhere. Hopefully, we can pick up one of them."

Jockey Micah Husbands (Bull by the Horns, sixth): "Went good. We were too far back to catch the winner. I didn't want to take him out of his comfort zone. He likes to make one run."

Trainer Todd Fincher (The Hell We Did, seventh): "Luis [Saez] felt that he doesn't want to be that far back. He took a lot of dirt. I thought I thought he could handle the dirt. He's run in the dirt before, but he took a lot of dirt. He rode him exactly like I told him. I have nothing against him; he rode him exactly how I told him. He just took a lot of dirt."

Jockey Luis Saez (The Hell We Did, seventh): "No excuse. Perfect spot. He didn't finish."

Jockey Alex Achard (Great White, eighth): "We broke good. Got a good trip. Settled mid-pack, traveling very good. He started picking it up at the three-eighths [pole] and I thought he had something, but through the stretch he didn't make his run."

Jockey Rafael Bejarano (Robusta, ninth): "We broke good. There was pressure coming in on the first turn. He made a nice run at the half-mile [pole] but couldn't keep up."

Trainer Brittany Russell (Taj Mahal, 10th): "He got away good, and they were moving along fine, but the winner also sat right on his flank. He did what we thought he would do; he just didn't kick on. You knew he was going to have to run a little faster than he has been, right?"

Jockey Sheldon Russell (Taj Mahal, 10th): "I was happy. He's that type where I knew he would bounce out of there no matter what the post, just because of the way he broke last time. For him to have crossed over from the 14 path [in the Federico Tesio] and now we're going to be on the rail, he probably went a little fast the first quarter. I was trying to sort of slow him down but he gets a little racy. Obviously I had to take the turn on the rail and he sort of thought that was his cue to go. Last time I sort of kept him off the rail and he sort of switched off. But no excuses really. We got our own way. I could see Paco [Lopez on Napoleon Solo] was right there, right next to me and sort of used me as a lead horse. Hopefully he comes back good and we'll regroup and hopefully there will be another big one later on in the future."

Trainer Dallas Stewart (Corona de Oro, 11th): "Just didn't show up. Broke OK, moved up a little bit down the backside, but just did not carry on. Dirt got him in the face a little bit, maybe he didn't like that too much. We got plenty of conditions. He has only won once."

Jockey John Velazquez (Corona de Oro, 11th): "He didn't give me much effort. We got to the first turn and tried to get position. We get there and he got a lot of dirt. I put him on the outside on the backstretch to try and keep his face clean. He made a little move at the three-eighths pole and was done."

Trainer Danny Gargan (Talkin, 12th): "He was there for a while, and he just ran completely out of horse. He got cut up pretty bad in his hind tendon, but I'm not going to cry and make that the excuse. It's pretty deep, but I don't think we're going to have to stitch it. We'll find out, tomorrow morning. Maybe he can't go that far. We'll regroup and come back another day. Probably, I'm going to cut him back to seven-eighths or a mile. We're totally proud of the horse. In these kinds of races, normally you don't feel very good, but in this kind of race we're very happy with the horse. Congrats to the winner, to Paco Lopez. He deserved to get a win."

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. (Talkin, 12th): "He broke sharp but going into the turn he got into some trouble. There was a rush inside and then I was in a bad spot with the outside horses coming over. After that I felt like I'd have a beautiful trip, but not today."

Jockey Junior Alvarado (Crupper, 13th): "I didn't have the greatest trip. He's a fast horse, and he broke half a step slow and I got pinched out of there. I was just too far back and [it was] too much to do for him. I think he wants to be forwardly placed. We couldn't do that today. Maybe next time."