Napoleon Solo continues Breeders’ Cup prep with half-mile breeze
- Napoleon Solo continues Breeders’ Cup prep with half-mile breeze
- G2-winner John the Beer Man to take on Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint; Waralo to bypass
- Rum Twist on target for G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
- Apprentice jockey Jonathan Nolasco secures first career win
Espoir USA’s dual Grade 1-winner Napoleon Solo turned in another breeze over the Belmont Park main track on Friday ahead of the Breeders’ Cup on October 31 at Keeneland, covering a solo half-mile in 48.63 seconds shortly after 5:30 a.m. in rein to regular exercise rider Emily Ellingwood.
The work was the sophomore colt’s fourth over the Belmont main track since moving downstate from Saratoga Race Course following a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 DraftKings Travers on August 29. Last week, he worked six furlongs in 1:11 flat, running down a pair of workers for Rudy Rodriguez in the stretch and galloping out strongly.
“He did more than we anticipated last time he went with a six-furlong work, so we just wanted to kind of give him an easy one,” trainer Chad Summers said. “Emily gets along so well with him and they love each other. We’ll go five-eighths with him next week at Keeneland.”
The winner of the Grade 1 Preakness in May at Laurel Park and the Grade 1 Champagne last October at Belmont at the Big A was a half-length second in his last two outings in Grade 1 company, just missing to Baby Vino in the NYRA Bets Haskell in July at Monmouth Park and to Leading Change in the Travers.
Summers indicated a final decision will be made about whether the son of Liam’s Map runs in the Breeders’ Cup Classic or the Dirt Mile once pre-entries are released on October 21, but that the Classic is the likely target.
“He leaves for Keeneland at 4 o’clock tomorrow morning – you want to be able to get some gallop days down there and then hopefully he’ll breeze on Friday,” Summers said. “I don’t want to breeze too close to the race if I don’t have to, we’ll just keep our eye on the weather.”
Napoleon Solo has been a special horse for Summers, who earned his first North American Grade 1 victory with the colt in the Preakness for owner Al Gold’s Gold Square before he was sold privately to Espoir USA.
Summers’ first stable star was the New York-bred Mind Your Biscuits – a dual Group 1-winner in Dubai – and the conditioner said he is grateful to have another top horse in his barn.
“He loves what he does and he’s a really special horse. We’re blessed,” he said of Napoleon Solo. “We had a once-in-a-lifetime horse in Mind Your Biscuits, and we’ve got another chance here with Napoleon. I’m just thankful the owners kept the horse with us and hopefully we can make them proud on October 31.”
Additional news, notes, advances and recaps are available at: https://www.nyra.com/belmont/news/.
For more information about the new Belmont Park, visit NewBelmont.com.
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G2-winner John the Beer Man to take on Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint; Waralo to bypass
Michael Dubb and Michael Caruso’s Grade 2-winner John the Beer Man posted a solo half-mile breeze in 49.22 seconds Friday over the Belmont Park dirt training track as he prepares for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on October 31 at Keeneland.
“He worked great and I was happy with it, moving good, galloped out good,” said trainer Rob Atras. “As long as everything goes good from now, we’re planning on [breezing again] next week [here] and then we’ll ship him to Keeneland probably on the 25th.”
The 5-year-old More Than Ready gelding has worked back three times since an even four-length seventh in the Grade 2 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint on September 5, an uncharacteristic effort after a strong head victory over Waralo – who was disqualified and placed third for interference – in the Grade 2 Troy on August 9 at Saratoga Race Course. The winning effort equaled a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure.
“Kentucky Downs, we were kind of up in the air about – obviously after the race you say, ‘he didn’t handle the track,’ but I think we would have regretted not trying,” Atras said. “The main thing is, he came out of the race really well. There were two races here [at Belmont], but we thought, ‘he’s doing well, so let’s go for the [Breeders' Cup] and take our best shot.’”
John the Beer Man debuted for the Atras barn in March following a nearly two-year layoff dating to a third-out maiden victory in May 2024 at Belmont at the Big A when in the care of five-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown. Despite graduating at a route of ground, John the Beer Man returned in an allowance sprint at Fair Grounds Race Course after Atras’ first-choice route race was rained off the turf. He proved his affinity for shorter distances with a 1 1/2-length score that also produced a 100 Beyer.
“We always liked him, and we weren’t 100 percent sure about the distance for him, but I knew he would run well based on the way he was training,” Atras said of his return to the races. “The way he showed speed like that was a very pleasant surprise. After that, he just kept progressing.”
The talented gelding took another allowance-level tilt in April at Aqueduct Racetrack ahead of a gutsy third in the Grade 1 Jaipur in June at Saratoga, beaten just three-quarter-lengths by Reef Runner while a neck back of Ag Bullet.
Atras said he is looking forward to bringing a horse with a strong resume to the World Championships.
“Every week, I read the race is getting tougher with more speed and everything, but I just focus on him and how he’s doing and hope for the best,” Atras said. “He’s been great to have and is a very exciting horse.”
The aforementioned New York-bred Waralo was last seen finishing a neck second to the mare Egyptian Mau in the Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint on October 1 here in his first effort since the Troy. Trainer Chris Englehart said the 7-year-old War Dancer gelding will bypass the Breeders’ Cup and instead point to the $200,000 New York Turf Sprint Championship on the October 24 Empire Showcase Day card, which features 10 stakes exclusively for horses foaled in New York State.
“We thought about the Breeders’ Cup, but he was never nominated,” Englehart said. “We’re headed to the turf sprint here on the 24th – he’s been very consistent and we’re hoping for another good race from him.”
Englehart added that Waralo “did well” in a half-mile breeze in 48 seconds flat over the Belmont training track on Thursday.
Campaigned by My Purple Haze Stables, Waralo was bred by Casey Newick and has crossed the finish line first or second in each of his last nine outings, including a stakes win against open company in the Listed Elusive Quality in May at Belmont at the Big A, and against state-breds in the Ashley T. Cole in June there.
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Rum Twist on target for G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
Lee Lewis and Lexi Lewis’ Rum Twist will mark the 15th starter for trainer Mark Hennig at the Breeders’ Cup when she tests her mettle in the Grade 1 Juvenile Fillies on October 30 at Keeneland.
Rum Twist matched a career-best 78 Beyer Speed Figure last out with a stalking 2 3/4-length runner-up effort to Dotsy in the Grade 1, $500,000 Frizette traveling a one-turn mile on October 3 at Belmont Park. Her second-place finish earned a credit of $15,000 towards entry fees via the Breeders’ Cup “Dirt Dozen” Series as well as five Kentucky Oaks qualifying points.
“She’s been doing great since the race,” Hennig said. “She’s doing awesome. She’s really sharp. She almost acts like she knows she got beat. It looks like she is looking forward to being back out there, honestly.”
The Mandaloun bay has made all four starts around one turn, graduating at third asking sprinting seven furlongs on September 5 at Saratoga Race Course. The Juvenile Fillies, contested at a two-turn 1 1/16-miles, offers 30-15-9-6-3 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Hennig said of two turns. “I think that ultimately it will be the further the better for her. Hopefully, the two turns bear out the way I think it will.”
Hennig’s best result at the Breeders’ Cup came with the Ontario-bred Demaloot Demashoot, who ran a two-length fifth to the victorious Cardmania in the 1993 Grade 1 Sprint at Santa Anita Park. There, at odds of 35-1 under Jose Santos, the Bold Ruckus dark bay pressed the pace of Meafara from second position and stayed on gamely down the lane, missing fourth by a nose to Thirty Slews.
Next year, the Breeders’ Cup will return to Belmont Park for the first time since 2005. The veteran trainer was involved on that occasion as well with Gygistar landing ninth-of-11 in the Grade 1 Sprint won by Silver Train.
“Those were a long time ago, but we got back there last year with Gun Song,” said Hennig, who sent out that filly to a sixth in the Distaff. “I’m just happy to be going back again, especially for Lee Lewis. We are looking forward to it.”
The Kentucky-bred Rum Twist, out of the winning Congrats mare Rumandice, has banked $193,150 through a 4-1-2-0 ledger. Her Grade 3-placed second dam, Chasethegold, is a half-sister to Grade 1-winners Daredevil and Albertus Maximus.
Hennig noted he expects to maintain a solid string of horses at Belmont through the winter meet, which will be conducted exclusively on the newly-installed Tapeta track.
“Basically, we always take a group to Florida, and we leave a group here, generally New York-breds, but there are some horses this year that I may leave here because of the Tapeta,” said Hennig. “I guess we will experiment a bit in December and see how they handle it. If they don’t handle it, they’ll go to Florida for the grass, but we’ll play that by ear.”
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Apprentice jockey Jonathan Nolasco secures first career win
Apprentice jockey Jonathan Nolasco earned his first career win in his fourth lifetime start, piloting the Tom Morley-trained Private Desire to a three-length victory in a six-furlong claimer in Race 2 on Thursday at Belmont Park.
Private Desire exited a step slowly and last from post 7-of-8, but was hustled between rivals by Nolasco to take command through an opening quarter-mile in 23.12 seconds over the fast dirt.
Nolasco built a four-length advantage aboard the 5-year-old Constitution gelding through the half-mile in 45.50. With a host of rivals in pursuit, the 10-pound apprentice remained strong on the front end en route to a much-the-best victory in a final time of 1:09.30.
“I have had a long time taking care of myself, taking it step by step, and thank God for the result of getting there,” Nolasco said. “I have a lot of time to keep learning and growing in this business.”
Nolasco, a 26-year-old native of Puerto Rico, attended the island's jockey school – Escuela Vocacional Hipica Agustin Mercado Reveron – and had ridden in just three prior races, including a second in September here and a pair of off-the-board efforts in 2024 at Churchill Downs.
“I’m from Puerto Rico. I graduated from the jockey school in 2019,” Nolasco said. “I was an exercise rider here after, but I have proven myself working, thank God for good trainers, good support, like Chad Brown, Todd Pletcher. Really, they schooled me a lot. I’m thankful I could make my dream come true, and this is a great result, first win at Belmont Park.”
Nolasco noted that he gained plenty of experience as an exercise rider for five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown.
“I have been an exercise rider for like six years,” Nolasco said. “I’ve been trying to make this [racing] dream come true for maybe like three months only. Thank God the result came quickly. This is my second ride this year. I’m getting things little by little, and will see in the future how things come along.”
Nolasco looked no further than the Belmont Park jockeys’ room when asked about which riders he looks up to.
“Really, the ones here in New York. I like Dylan Davis a lot, Edgard Zayas, Manny Franco,” said Nolasco, after some of those riders doused him with buckets of water to honor his first win. “I have been around those people for a long time, learning a lot, things are coming out very well.
“Thank you very much to [trainers] Marcelo Arenas, Tom Morley, and all the people supporting me,” the rider added.
