RacingBetter News
	Tuesday 9th June 2026

Longshot Winners Define the 2026 Triple Crown Trail

Golden Tempo paid 23-1 at the Kentucky Derby. Napoleon Solo came in at 10-1 in the Preakness. Different horses, different races, and the two never even crossed paths because Golden Tempo's camp skipped the Preakness entirely. If you have been browsing any 1xbet online in Bahrain or elsewhere with horse racing markets lately, the ante-post boards probably look nothing like they did in April. Both favourites got beat. Triple Crown sweep? Gone before the third leg even has a field.

The Belmont on June 6 at Saratoga Race Course has at least three horses with grudges. Open field. The kind of card punters wait all year for.

A $40,000 Horse and a First-Time Trainer

The Preakness story at Laurel Park on May 16 borders on absurd. Al Gold bought Napoleon Solo for $40,000, not exactly the price tag that screams future classic winner. Trainer Chad Summers hadn't had a significant result since 2017. The horse itself had finished fifth, twice, in his only two starts as a three-year-old. Fifth in the Wood Memorial. Fifth before that. Nobody was queueing up to back this colt in a 14-runner Preakness field.

Then jockey Paco Lopez got involved. After the Wood Memorial, Lopez told Gold and Summers straight. The horse was better than those results. Gold said on NBC he didn't even want to make the trip, and honestly it sounded like he meant it. Summers had heard plenty of criticism and, post-race, responded to the doubters with a grinning "shut up." Lopez had ridden Napoleon Solo in both those fifths and was convinced the form was lying. Napoleon Solo went out, took over from early leader Taj Mahal around the far turn, and held off Iron Honor by a length and a quarter. Final time was 1.58.69 at a venue hosting the Preakness for the first time ever.

Taj Mahal, the 9-2 favourite trained by Brittany Russell, finished tenth. So much for the hometown edge at Laurel.

Golden Tempo's Derby Run Came From Nowhere

Go back two weeks. The Derby had already wrecked the formbook. Golden Tempo sat nowhere for most of the race at Churchill Downs, then Jose Ortiz steered the colt on a wide, sweeping run that somehow caught co-favourite Renegade, ridden, of all people, by Jose's brother Irad, right on the wire. A neck. That was it. The 150,415 crowd had just seen Cherie DeVaux become the first female trainer to win the Run for the Roses across 152 runnings. "I don't have any words right now," she told reporters, and you could tell she meant it.

Ocelli came third at 70-1 and Chief Wallabee at 7-1 took fourth. If you boxed those top three in a trifecta, you already know what the payout looked like. Didn't matter if you tracked it through Bahraini 1xbet or any other platform with ante-post markets. The Derby blew up every pre-race favourite.

Three Contenders Collide at Saratoga

Saratoga Race Course hosts the 158th Belmont on June 6 over 1¼ miles. Shorter than the traditional 1½ you get at Belmont Park, which is still under renovation and won't be ready until next year. Sovereignty broke the speed record at this distance last year, so horses with tactical pace have an edge over the ones who grind from the back.

Here's where the ante-post boards sit going into the week.

• Renegade (2-1). Derby runner-up, skipped the Preakness, five weeks fresh

• Golden Tempo (3-1). Derby winner, also bypassed the Preakness

• Chief Wallabee (9-2). Consistent fourth at the Derby, chasing a headline win

• Commandment (6-1). Florida Derby winner, completely different form line

• Napoleon Solo. Connections deciding this week on a Belmont entry

Renegade lost by a neck at Churchill Downs and the shorter Saratoga distance could suit a horse who doesn't need as much ground to find top gear. Golden Tempo came from dead last in the Derby, though, and nobody knows if the Belmont pace will set up the same way for a closer who needs everything to break right.

Justify was the last horse to sweep all three legs, back in 2018. No Triple Crown this year. But a $2 million purse and a Derby grudge match at a distance nobody has raced this year? With Napoleon Solo potentially joining a field that already has Renegade, Golden Tempo, Chief Wallabee, and Commandment? That's a Belmont worth watching.