Napoleon Solo conquers the Champagne under Joel Rosario (Susie Raisher)
Keith McCalmont/NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Napoleon Solo dominated on the front end under Hall of Famer Joel Rosario to post a resounding 6 1/2-length score in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne, a one-turn mile for 2-year-olds, at Belmont at the Big A.
In victory, the Chad Summers trainee for owner Al Gold’s Gold Square earned a “Win and You’re In” berth into the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on October 31 at Del Mar and also claimed the maximum allotment of 10-5-3-2-1 qualifying points on offer to the top-five finishers towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby in May at Churchill Downs.
“We’ve been trying to get Grade 1 horses and trying to get to the Kentucky Derby, we were there with Cyberknife a few years ago…so this is great,” Summers said. “I’m just so happy for Al and his family, the time, effort and money they put into this. He loves his names, horses, and the game. To have a horse like this is inspiring, it might even be inspiring enough to get on a plane.”
Napoleon Solo, by Liam’s Map, entered from a sparkling 5 1/4-length debut score under Kendrick Carmouche in a restricted maiden sprint on August 8 at Saratoga Race Course. Rosario, who won the Grade 1 Frizette one race earlier with Iron Orchard, picked up the mount here and sent Napoleon Solo to the front through splits of 22.53 seconds and 44.24 with 2-5 mutuel favorite It’s Our Time stalking from second position.
Napoleon Solo led the field into the turn as 17 3/4-length debut winner It’s Our Time was scrubbed on by Luis Saez as they tried and failed to make a dent in the frontrunner’s ever-increasing lead. Napoleon Solo opened up by five lengths at the stretch call and stayed on strong to the wire to notch the win in a final time of 1:34.57 over the fast main track.
“He broke really well out of there. It looked like the track was a little [fast]. They keep moving on it, so just try to stay there [up front] – it looked like it was easy for him,” said Rosario. “I thought honestly he would sit third or fourth, but he broke so well, and I don’t try to take anything away, because it was easy for him. I kind of went to another plan after that. It looked like he was doing it nice and easy, so I just rode him and hopefully no one was faster than him.”
NAPOLEON SOLO dominates in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes under @JRosarioJockey for trainer @horsesummers, punching his ticket to the @BreedersCup Juvenile! pic.twitter.com/afe73Kw7Yn
— NYRA () (@TheNYRA) October 4, 2025
Talkin [5 points], trained by Danny Gargan who saddled Iron Orchard to victory in the Frizette, closed wide under Carmouche to complete the exacta by three-quarter lengths over the rail-running Universe [3 points] in third. It’s Our Time [2 points] and Stradale [1 point] rounded out the top-five followed by Curtain Call, Aye Eye, Stickupwithoutagun and Just Asap.
Gargan said the Kentucky-bred Talkin, who posted an impressive debut maiden August 30 at the Spa, may have earned a berth in the nine-furlong Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen on December 6 here which offers 10-5-3-2-1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points.
“He ran huge. Got out there, I thought there’d be more speed. I would have loved to have won two Grade 1s today, but if I’m second, I’m OK with it,” Gargan said. “I didn’t want Kendrick to engage him early and use him and fade. I said, ‘I’m trying to teach this horse because I think he’s going to be a two-turn horse.’ This horse could win the Remsen, just give him a good education today. We’ll come out of this race and come back in the Remsen at a mile and an eighth and it will be right in his wheelhouse. I thought he ran really good today.”
Summers said he loved the way Napoleon Solo, who is named for a fictional character from the TV spy series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., finished up after sharp splits early and a significant break from his debut score.
“You don’t have a lot of horses that go 44 and change and keep going,” Summers said. “He did it, it wasn’t really the plan, but Joel said he just broke so easy and he had so much horse in hand, he goes, ‘with the way the track is playing, let’s just go ahead.’
“We were worried because we had the time off, 24 days to the Hopeful, 60 days to this race,” Summers added. “What do you do? You are in no man’s land. He’s a 2-year-old, he’s a nice horse, he’s developing, Al is such a great owner, we work together to make that plan and think what is best for the horse now and for the long term.”
Summers said he will sit down with the team to discuss the possibility of a trip to Del Mar for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
“I don’t know. Look, [with] a race like this, you want to go. But that was a fast time with a young horse who has only run two races, we will look at all the numbers, see how the numbers come back, get together with Al,” Summers said. “Once again, the Breeders’ Cup is in California, I wish it was on the East Coast once or twice. Get on a plane and get over there, there’s a lot of things to take under consideration.”
Bred in Kentucky by John D. Gunther and Eurowest Bloodstock, Napoleon Solo, a $40,000 purchase at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is out of the stakes-winning Scat Daddy mare Atomic Blonde. He banked $275,000 in victory and returned $15.94 for a $2 win bet as the 6-1 second choice.
Live racing resumes Sunday at Belmont at the Big A with a nine-race card featuring the Grade 3, $175,000 Waya in Race 6. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
