Local Long Shot Holds Off Preakness Winner to Capture Haskell

By Rich Chrampanis

OCEANPORT – The rain came down hard on Haskell Day. But that didn’t damper a historic chapter in the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes, as longshot Baby Vino held off Napoleon Solo to win the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes, giving trainer Lindsay Schultz her first career Grade 1 victory and the first by a female trainer in the race’s history.

Jockey Jorge A. Vargas Jr. guided Baby Vino to a $58.00 payout, the richest in Haskell history since July 27, 1985, when Skip Trial cashed $73.00.

It was the 31-year-old jockey’s first career Grade 1 win. 

The race unfolded in front of an announced crowd of 35,608, run over a track turned sloppy by rain, just the sixth time in Haskell history the race has been contested in those conditions, and the first since Exaggerator won on a sloppy strip in 2016.

Schultz had a feeling this moment was coming from the day Baby Vino won his first race.

“When this horse broke his maiden, you think about what he could do down the line, so it (the Haskell) was definitely on our minds at that point,” Schultz said.

The trainer’s instincts proved true Saturday at Monmouth Park – Schultz’s home base, where she keeps a barn of 60 horses – as Baby Vino held off a hard-charging Napoleon Solo in a stretch-long duel.

The Haskell run followed a statement performance from Baby Vino in his previous run, when he romped by 10¾ lengths in the NYRA Bets Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park. That win convinced Schultz to take the step up in class and enter a field that featured a Triple Crown winner. 

“After his last race, we thought this was the right place to try,” Schultz said. “I thought we were competitive in this field. You never know until you’re there, but I thought he belonged.”

Napoleon Solo, jockeyed by Paco Lopez, tangled down the stretch with Baby Vino, who was running right along the fence. The back-and-forth battle produced a thrilling finish and drew a steward’s inquiry, which ultimately awarded Baby Vino the victory. 

“It’s racing riding,” Vargas said of the stretch tangle with Lopez and Napoleon Solo. “Paco obviously was doing his job. If I was in his position, I would have done the same thing.”

Chad Summers, who trains Preakness winner Napoleon Solo, was left to reflect on a stretch battle that came up just short and a stewards’ review that ultimately upheld the order of finish.

“To me, this was one of the deepest groups in the Haskell that I can remember from top to bottom,” he said. “You’re beating some accomplished horses. And we were a clear second, so I’m proud of him. I don’t think he necessarily loved this track but I don’t want to make excuses because we all had to run over it.”

Baby Vino has earned a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, as the Haskell served as a “win and you’re in” qualifier race for it. The victory earns the colt an all-expenses-paid trip to Keeneland on Halloween. 

“It’s a really big deal to do it in the mud, a surface he’s never been on,” Schultz said. “We’re over the moon. You can’t say he beat an average crowd. These are real solid horses.”

The article originally appeared in the July 23 – 29, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.