Liam's Map Colt Napoleon Solo Turns Heads in Champagne

When veteran observers resort to a frame-by-frame analysis to confirm the fractions of a race, you know that something out of the ordinary has happened. That was the case with the Champagne Stakes (G1) at Aqueduct Racetrack Oct. 4 where Napoleon Solo flew through fractions posted as :22.54, :44.24; 1:07.88, and 1:20.90, before completing the mile all alone, 6 1/2 lengths clear, and stopping the clock at 1:34.57. To put that in context, the Aqueduct track record for 6 furlongs, set by the veritable rocket, Kelly Kip, is 1:07.54 and the 7-furlong record established by 1999 champion male sprinter Artax is 1:20.04, both of those times standing since 1999. Meanwhile, the final time for a contest that was first run in 1867 has been bettered by only Devil's Bag, Seattle Slew, and Uncle Mo, although those races were all run at Belmont Park. The extraordinary nature of those splits, particularly for a 2-year-old, caused some doubts about their veracity, but close video analysis by Craig Milkowski, chief figure maker for TimeformUS, comparing the race with the Discovery Stakes, run over the same distance on the same day, confirmed their accuracy. Principal victim of the exceptional pace was the odds-on favorite, It's Our Time, who paid the price for chasing Napoleon Solo early, eventually fading to fourth. It's Our Time had earned his place in the market with a jaw-dropping 17 3/4-length debut victory at Saratoga Race Course in August. He is a son of Not This Time—a half brother to Napoleon Solo's sire Liam's Map—who, It's Our Time's defeat aside, enjoyed a quite remarkable weekend in his own right with five stakes winners, three graded. Like It's Our Time, Napoleon Solo had made a winning debut at Saratoga on his previous start and if not as spectacular as It's Our Time's first appearance, there was plenty to like about his 5 1/4-length victory in a 6-furlong maiden special weight restricted to horses that sold or were bought back for $60,000 or less in their most recent sale. Napoleon Solo qualified for that condition, having realized just $40,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. A winner of six of his eight starts, Liam's Map himself produced a spectacular front-running performance to capture the 2015 Woodward Stakes (G1) by 4 3/4 lengths. That was his penultimate outing, and he closed out his career taking the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) by 2 1/2 lengths at Keeneland in track-record time, before retiring to stand at Lane's End Farm in Versailles, Ky. Liam's Map has been one of the most successful sons of his sire Unbridled's Song at stud. He's sired 30 stakes winners from his first seven crops of racing age, 14 of them graded, including Colonel Liam, winner of back-to-back editions of the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) in 2021-22; Deterministic, whose successes include this year's Manhattan Stakes (G1T); Blue Grass Stakes (G1) scorer Burnham Square; Wicked Whisper, heroine of the 2019 Frizette Stakes (G1); 2019 Hopeful Stakes (G1) scorer Basin; and Juju's Map, who took the 2021 Alcibiades Stakes (G1). Napoleon Solo is out of Atomic Blonde, who gained a black-type victory when taking the 2020 South Beach Stakes over 7 1/2 furlongs on the Gulfstream Park turf at 4, having previously earned third in the Winter Memories Stakes over 1 1/6 miles on the grass at Aqueduct at 3. It's not surprising that Atomic Blonde proved best suited the grass, given that she's by Scat Daddy out of Volver, a Danehill Dancer mare who won three times on the lawn in France. Out of the A.P. Indy mare Chanteleau, also a winner in France, Volver is a half sister to Katerini, runner-up in the Prix Yacowlef, and dam of Gallic Chieftain, successful in the 2019 ATC Chairman's Handicap (G2) and second in the 2019 ATC The Metropolitan (G1) while racing in Australia, and of French group winner Aladdine. A half sister to French listed winner Leo Girl (by Seattle Slew), Chanteleau is out of Navratilovna, a Nureyev daughter who captured the 1989 Prix d'Astarte (G2). Chanteleau is also half sister to Sweet Blue Eyes, the dam of French stakes winner, Messouers; granddam of stakes winner Sister Trouble; and third dam of Etoile (FR), a group winner in France, who also captured 2020 E. P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine. The dam of Navratilovna, Baracala, a French-raced daughter of Swaps, was half sister to Nonoalco, a son of Northern Dancer's sire, Nearctic, who took the 1973 Prix Morny (G1), 1974 Prix Jacques le Marois (G1), 1973 Prix de la Salamandre (G1), and 1974 English Two Thousand Guineas (G1). Baracala most notably produced Maximova, second-top-rated 2-year-old filly in Europe in 1982, and she is ancestress of 37 stakes winners, also including the 2000 Atto Mile Stakes (G1T) scorer Riviera; The Grey Gatsby (IRE), who took the 2014 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby, G1) and Irish Champion Stakes (G1); Septieme Ciel, winner of the 1990 Prix de la Foret (G1); Macoumba, successful in the 1994 Prix Marcel Boussac (G1); Regally Ready, winner of the 2011 Nearctic Stakes (G1T) and Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G2T); as well as standout sire Malibu Moon (a close relative to Chanteleau, the third dam of Napoleon Solo). The female line arrived in the United States in 1929 in the shape of Cinq a Sept, winner of the 1927 Irish Oaks and Park Hill Stakes. She most notably figures as the fifth dam of Secretariat and Sir Gaylord, but is ancestress of several other luminaries, among them Scattered (1948 Coaching Club American Oaks), Nancy Jr. (1967 Kentucky Oaks), Fiesta Gal (1987 Coaching Club American Oaks), Elocutionist (1976 Preakness Stakes, G1), Mairzy Doates (1981Japan Cup, G1), and Alleged (1977-78 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, G1). The cross of Liam's Map over mares by Scat Daddy now has 22 starters, and has produced three stakes winners, including the grade 1 scorers Napoleon Solo and Burnham Square, and six total stakes horses. Liam's Map also sired grade 1-winning 2-year-old Basin out of a mare by Scat Daddy's sire, Johannesburg. Napoleon Solo is also one of nearly 70 stakes winners, 26 graded, whose pedigrees combine Unbridled (grandsire of Liam's Map) and Johannesburg (sire of Scat Daddy). Unbridled is by Fappiano, who is by Mr. Prospector out of Killaloe, and Johannesburg is out of Myth, who is by Ogygian (dam a half sister to Killaloe) out of a mare by Mr. Prospector.