Napoleon Solo Works Thursday, G2 Fountain of Youth Possible

Xy Speed Chases First Win as 10YO in Saturday Feature
Defending Champ Dazzling Move Among G3 Royal Delta Noms

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Gold Square’s undefeated Grade 1 winner Napoleon Solo continues to train forwardly toward his 3-year-old debut which could come in the $400,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) Feb. 28 at Gulfstream Park.

Working for the fourth time in South Florida since mid-January and first in company, Napoleon Solo went four furlongs in 48 seconds over the main track at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. It was the fastest of 19 recorded works at the distance.

Trainer Chad Summers said he caught the son of Liam’s Map galloping out in 1:00 4/5. Napoleon Solo’s workmate, unraced but well-regarded 3-year-old Maxfield colt No Rain No Flowers, was timed in 49.10 seconds.

“It went very well. I was very happy with it,” Summers said. “We’re right on pace for where we need to be, [and] very excited about where we are. We’ll go one day at a time, see how he is tomorrow, and get with Gold Square and try and figure out a plan.”

Napoleon Solo has not run since a 6 ?-length upset of the Oct. 4 Champagne (G1) going a one-turn mile last fall at Aqueduct. In his only other start, he captured his unveiling by 5 ? lengths last August sprinting six furlongs at Saratoga.

“He’s doing well. I’m very thankful to be down here at Palm Meadows. You see what the weather has been like up and down the East Coast, so we’re very thankful to be down here and training the horse every day,” Summers said.

“We came down here with a plan of getting six works into the horse before his first race. That’s what Sovereignty did last year,” he added. “I have all the respect in the world for Hall of Fame [trainer] Bill Mott, so we’ll try and kind of mimic that plan a little bit.”

Sovereignty made his sophomore debut winning the Fountain of Youth last March and suffered his only loss of the season when second in the Florida Derby (G1) before going on to win the Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont (G1) and Travers (G1) and be named champion 3-year-old and Horse of the Year.

Napoleon Solo previously worked three furlongs in 36.45 seconds Jan. 14 and 21 and went a half in 49.11 Jan. 28. Both the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth and Aqueduct’s one-mile Gotham (G3), also on Feb. 28, are under consideration for the season opener.

“We’re down here for a reason, it’s not just for the sunshine,” Summers said. “We’ll leave it up to the boss and Gold Square and we’ll see. I think he’s on target to be ready for the Fountain of Youth or the Gotham. Obviously it’s a one-turn mile as opposed to two-turn, mile and a sixteenth. We’ll see who goes to what race.”

Napoleon Solo was among 367 horses nominated to the Triple Crown by the initial Jan. 28 deadline and one of three for Gold Square. One is stakes winner Two Out Hero, a last-out third in the Summer (G1) Sept. 13 at Woodbine for trainer Kevin Attard, and the other is Toga Twist. Third in the Funny Cide for New York-breds last summer, Toga Twist was bred by Gold Square and runs for Legion Racing, GenSax Racing, Flash Toga Farm, Echo Sam and Steven Lovelette.

Summers also trains and co-owns Triple Crown nominated Game for It, winner of his lone start Dec. 10 at Aqueduct, with breeders Tim and Nancy Hamlin of Wynnstay Inc. Game for It is entered in Saturday's Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs.

Arkansas Derby (G1) and Haskell (G1) winner Cyberknife, trained by Brad Cox, represented Gold Square in the 2022 Kentucky Derby.

“To see our name on the list among the elite of the elite is a lot of fun. For Gold Square to have three horses nominated to the [Triple Crown] and a horse they bred is a big salute to the program that Al Gold and Gold Square have established.

“Running in the Derby a few years ago with Cyberknife wasn’t maybe the outcome they wanted. To win the Arkansas Derby and the Haskell after that and be second in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile [G1] is nothing to sneeze at. Going to the Kentucky Derby, it’s got to be on everybody’s list. We’d definitely love the opportunity to get back there again, hopefully this year.”

Xy Speed Chases First Win as a 10YO in Saturday Feature

Clear Stars Stable’s multiple stakes winner Xy Speed, second in his 10-year-old debut last month, chases a 17th win in his 50th career start Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

The gelded bay son of First Samurai drew Post 8 of nine in Race 7, a second-level optional claiming allowance for 4-year-olds and up scheduled for five furlongs on the grass. He is one of two horses entered for the $62,500 claiming tag.

“He’s doing as good as ever. At 10 years old, he’s ageless. He’s as good as can be,” trainer Michael Lerman said. “We try to do our best at keeping him sound and happy. The key is longevity. He’s an outlier these days, but he’s doing great.”

Xy Speed raced between horses in a similar spot Jan. 4, closing to be 2 ? lengths behind front-running winner Speed Figures, a horse half his age and that carried two fewer pounds. Three horses that finished behind Xy Speed that day – Niagara Skyline, Twisted Filigree and Test Factor – also return here.

“We’re looking for him to win on Saturday. His ‘A’ game will be here. It’s not the toughest two-other-than that he’s ever been in, and it should set up just right for him,” Lerman said. “He loves it here and he loves this course.”

Xy Speed has a lifetime 16-10-3 record with $622,051 in purse earnings, and is 9-7-2 with a $374,484 bankroll in 22 career tries on the Gulfstream turf. His most recent win came at the course and distance last June where Louis the Sun King, who he’ll face Saturday, ran third.

“You keep him healthy and happy and manage him right,” Lerman said. “You keep him out of the stakes. This is a good level for him.”

Defending Champ Dazzling Move Among Royal Delta Nominees

Defending champion Dazzling Move, graded-stakes winners Alpine Princess and Nothing Like You, and Grade 1-placed Drexel Hill and Dry Powder are among the nominees to the $175,000 Royal Delta (G3) for older fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles Saturday, Feb. 14 at Gulfstream Park.

Dazzling Move captured last year’s Royal Delta by three-quarters of a length over Grand Job, winner of the Jan. 24 Inside Information (G2) at Gulfstream. She went on to place in four more stakes including a runner-up finish in the Ogden Phipps (G1) at Saratoga, and was most recently fifth in the Inside Information.

In addition to Dazzling Move, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. also nominated four other horses – stakes winners Luvumorgan and twice Grade 2-placed Claret Beret; Eunomia, a winner of two straight; and U Lite Up My Life, second in three straight races with the last behind Eunomia Dec. 13 in Tampa.

Brad Cox-trained Alpine Princess has not raced since winning the 1 1/8-mile Falls City (G3) Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs. The 5-year-old mare has been third or better in 14 of 17 starts with earnings of $949,065 and placed in three graded-stakes in 2025.

Nothing Like You’s next start will be her first for trainer Brendan Walsh after winning five of 14 races and $567,160 in purses for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. Among her wins are the 2023 Starlet (G3), 2024 Santa Anita Oaks (G2) and Dark Mirage last September in her most recent start.

Drexel Hill finished second behind champion Good Cheer, beaten 2 ? lengths at odds of 32-1, in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) last spring. She opened this year with a victory in the 1 1/16-mile Wayward Lass Jan. 10 at Tampa for trainer Whit Beckman.

Dry Powder went unraced at 2 before making seven starts as a 3-year-old with two wins, three seconds and a third, ending with an off-the-board finish in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) last fall. She debuted with a maiden special weight triumph last March at Gulfstream, won the Cathryn Sophia in August at Parx, and was second by a neck in the Cotillion (G1) and third in the Coaching Club America Oaks (G1).