Preakness Win a 'Moment of Pride' for Summers

When Chad Summers woke up on the morning of May 17, it was somewhere he always dreamed of being but, at one point, he began to believe he would never see as a trainer: on top of the racing world. The climb up that mountain came courtesy of a redeeming win by Gold Square's Napoleon Solo in the $2 million Preakness Stakes (G1) Nov. 16 at Laurel Park. READ: Napoleon Solo Shines in Preakness, Repels Iron Honor Summers said Saturday night he was still in disbelief of being in that position, but as he entered the barn Sunday morning and found a very energetic Napoleon Solo looking for attention and peppermints at the front of his stall, reality began to sink in. "He came out super, he ate all his food last night," Summers reported as part of a 15-minute interview that will debut on the May 18 episode of BloodHorse Monday. "We came back about midnight and gave him another scoop and he ate that right up. He's very proud of himself this morning." Summers should also feel proud of himself Sunday morning for achieving what all trainers dream about and most never experience: a classic win. Summers developed his love for the game early in his life, watching the Triple Crown races with his father and brother and constantly attending "Breakfast at Belmont." When it came time to enter the industry, he planned to do so as a writer. "I wanted to be the next Joe Hirsch," Summers said. Summers read a book called Paper Lion, written by George Plimpton about his experience joining the National Football League's Detroit Lions training camp as a 36-year-old rookie quarterback. Summers then decided to improve his writing skills by working in the industry himself for a summer. Summers ended up caring for a daughter of champion sprinter Artax named Say Hey Willie, who connections thought wouldn't make it to the races. She did make it, winning her debut by 1 3/4 lengths in August 2004 at Saratoga Race Course. "That victory was an adrenaline boost," Summers said. "I played sports all my life, competitive sports. Winning a race like that was a feeling I never experienced before. That feeling was like a drug; I needed it again and again—that feeling of winning." That drug became more addictive in Summers' first year as a trainer in 2017. Taking over the care of 2016 Malibu Stakes (G1) winner Mind Your Biscuits, Summers traveled to Japan and won the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) in just his fifth start. Mind Your Biscuits would repeat the feat in 2018, ultimately giving Summers his first four graded/group victories. However, the path was more difficult after Mind Your Biscuits. The number of horses in his barn was low and his frustrations with the industry as a whole were growing. As the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, he began to think about stepping away from training. "It's an everyday thing for me. There's a lot of things in this industry that need reform," Summers said. "There's a lot of things I feel like we need to talk about as an industry that I feel like sometimes fall on deaf ears. Hopefully, this classic win gives us the opportunity to have our voices heard a little bit more. I feel like there's a lot of things that need to change in this industry." As he was having that debate, he still maintained his sharp eye for talented horses. He got an opportunity to showcase that eye when he met owner Al Gold, who gave him an opportunity to purchase horses for him. "I met Al and he told me I could buy one nice horse and a couple others," Summers said. "He said take a swing like Dave Kingman from the New York Mets." READ: Owner Gold Strike Preakness Gold with Napoleon Solo Kingman was known for his big swings during a Major League Baseball career that lasted from 1971-86, averaging a home run every 15.11 at-bats. His success earned him nicknames such as "King Kong" and "Sky King." Summers ended up finding a King Kong with the swing Gold gave him in Cyberknife, who would go on to win the 2022 Arkansas Derby (G1) and Haskell Stakes (G1) for trainer Brad Cox. "I told him he's either going to win a grade 1 or never make it to the races," Summers said. "Fortunately, it was the first one. That started our relationship together. We've had a lot of success since." Some of the other horses Summers has played a role in selecting are grade 1 winners Howard Wolowitz and Full Count Felicia, as well as Kentucky Derby (G1) trail contenders Instant Coffee, Slip Mahoney, and Filoso. And of course, the biggest one of all is one he trained himself: Napoleon Solo. "When we started working together, (Gold) had bought horses for a long time, but he had wanted to get involved a little bit more on the higher end," Summers said. "When he did it, the expectation is to run in these classic races. We were able to make the Derby the first time, and we haven't been back since. To do this here, to win the only Preakness at Laurel, is fantastic." Summers' father, Scott, has been an up-close observer of his son's success since the beginning. He was brimming with pride at the barn Sunday morning. "He is so talented at this," Scott said. "He does a remarkable job with finding the right horses and being able to sell successful horses. His mindset is so good in that category. The way he works, he'll go and look at every horse at every sale. Who else does that? It's absurd. I love to see that. We have a very, very close relationship. I just feel like I'm part of the team without participating. It's just a lot of fun." Destiny would find its way to Summers at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale when he went to visit the Glennwood Farm consignment and saw Hip 1081, a son of Liam's Map who would win him the Preakness two years later. He would purchase the colt for just $40,000. "He was a lot of fun. He was at the top of the hill at Keeneland and selling at 7 o'clock at night. Fortunately, a lot of people had gone home," Summers recalled. "When he was walking with the handler, he would just kind of be playing and kind of being a little boy and having a good time with himself. We went to scope him and he was a nightmare to scope with the vet, Dr. Pug Hart. He goes, 'He's tough to scope, but there's nothing wrong with him, he's just playing so much.' "We like horses that have personality, have attitude. You have to have the right staff to take care of horses like that, but he was the same way as a yearling as he is now." The staff molded Napoleon Solo into a grade 1 winner early and rode out a series of setbacks in the first half of 2026 that kept the colt from the winner's circle until the Preakness. Pulling out the victory after needing to be patient all winter, and given how he almost stopped training years ago, made Saturday night extra rewarding. "It's a moment of pride, of the ups and downs, trials and tribulations that we encountered to get here," Summers said. "Once you get to that mountaintop, do you walk away and drop the mic like maybe I should've when Mind Your Biscuits won his first race in Dubai, or do you keep going and try to find the next Napoleon Solo. We've been blessed to purchase a lot of nice horses. I've been around a lot of nice horses. We'll just see what the future holds for both of us." The immediate future for both is targeted at Monmouth Park for the July 18 Haskell, a race that holds strong importance to Gold as a New Jersey native. Whether or not Napoleon Solo will start before then will depend on the horse, Summers said, but the Belmont Stakes (G1) in three weeks at Saratoga Race Course is out of the question.