Pop quiz: what do 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify and Atomic Blonde, dam of last week's GI Preakness Stakes winner Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map), have in common?Both are by Scat Daddy, both were bred by the Gunther family, and both were raised at Glennwood Farm near Versailles, Kentucky.Justify and Atomic Blonde also have something else in common with a number of other Glennwood-bred and -raised Grade I winners such as Vino Rosso, Tamarkuz, First Samurai, and Stevie Wonderboy.“We do tend to raise some good chestnuts on this farm,” said Glennwood's Lindsay Wilson with a laugh.Napoleon Solo is, of course, a gray or roan and Glennwood has been associated with plenty of other good horses who aren't chestnut. It's also fair to say any color horse looks good draped in Black-Eyed Susans. Napoleon Solo marked the farm's second Preakness winner in less than a decade.“It's exciting for the whole team,” said Wilson. “I know we don't own him any more, but it's really exciting seeing him on the big screen and knowing we had a part in it.”Bred by John D. Gunther and Eurowest Bloodstock–Tanya Gunther's bloodstock arm–Napoleon Solo was raised by Glennwood, then consigned by the farm to the 2024 Keeneland September sale. Chad Summers, who trained the colt to the Preakness win as well as to a score in last year's GI Champagne Stakes, purchased him for $40,000.Napoleon Solo draped in Black-Eyed Susans after the Preakness | Sarah AndrewNow a Gold Square colorbearer, Napoleon Solo's Glennwood story began 15 years ago when the farm purchased his granddam, Volver (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), at the 2011 Keeneland November sale for $22,000 while she was carrying her first foal. A winner in France, Volver stayed in the Glennwood program for just a few years before she was sold privately.Before she left Glennwood, Volver produced her sole stakes winner to date: Atomic Blonde. Racing as a Gunther/Eurowest homebred, the chestnut won the 2020 South Beach Stakes on the lawn at Gulfstream while under the tutelage of Todd Pletcher and also placed in the 2019 Winter Memories Stakes at Aqueduct.The Gunthers retained her. Napoleon Solo is her second foal.“The mare doesn't give us any trouble,” said Wilson. “I talked with our guys in the barn and asked what they think about Atomic Blonde. They all said she's pretty good, maybe a little spirited sometimes, but she's a sweet mama.”Wilson added that Tanya Gunther calls Atomic Blonde a balanced and well-made, medium-sized mare with good conformation. Covered by Stage Raider–a Gunther homebred, a half to Justify, and a stakes-winning and graded-placed 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard'–for 2026, Atomic Blonde slipped her pregnancy for this year, but is in foal to Flightline on a March cover for 2027.Atomic Blonde's yearling colt by Authentic is entered in the Keeneland September sale.Wilson said one thing Atomic Blonde's foals all seem to have in common is “they all know who they are and what they want.” She said Napoleon Solo “was always liked by our guys. He was a pretty straightforward colt, easy to handle and he had a strong walk. The guys always thought he was smart and said he knew what he had to do.”Atomic Blonde poses at Glennwood in October | Sarah AndrewGlennwood–which usually has around 35 mares–breeds, sells, and races, “a little smattering of everything,” said Wilson. One non-negotiable for the farm is teamwork.“Tanya has always created a team approach and when Napoleon Solo won this one, she called me immediately after the race and told me congratulations even though I didn't do anything,” said Wilson. “It really hammers home how much of a difference I think having that team approach makes for a small farm like ours.“I would venture to say there were a few tears that I heard on the phone when I called our guys with Tanya's congratulations. It was exciting for them also just to be a part of it. We were all looking back at our phones at the old pictures and videos of Napoleon Solo as a baby and as a yearling growing up. To get to feel that little bit of specialness is really exciting for them, too. Everybody on the team works really hard. The excitement of moments like this kind of outweighs all the hard work you've got to put in the rest of the year.”Wilson said everything at Glennwood is a team effort with one exception. All the mating decisions are “100% Tanya.”When asked what prompted the mating with Liam's Map for Atomic Blonde, Tanya Gunther shared it was a combination of the physical match, Liam's Map's ability to throw versatility in regards to surface, and the speed the Lane's End sire brings to the table. She also said it didn't hurt that it was already a proven cross at the time. While GI Hopeful Stakes winner Basin, from the stallion's first crop, is out of a Johannesburg (sire of Scat Daddy) mare, the cross has since proven more potent still. Like Napoleon Solo, last year's GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes winner and current turf sensation Burnham Square is also by Liam's Map and out of a Scat Daddy mare.Atomic Blonde | Sarah AndrewWilson pointed out that as the foaling and breeding seasons on farms across Kentucky are winding down for the year, yearling prep will begin. Then it's sales season and the cycle continues. She said big wins–like Napoleon Solo's Preakness–bolster the whole team at Glennwood and carry them through the leaner times.“I think it's important to the guys on the farm specifically to know so much of the foundation that the horses get at the farm–which is a big part of what makes a horse, in my opinion–means a great deal. On farms, as everybody knows, you have good days and bad days and some days you'd rather forget, but then you have moments that shine like this and it really helps cap a season.”The post The Producers: Atomic Blonde, Dam of Preakness Winner Napoleon Solo appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.