In mid May 1974, Neapolitan Way's trainer Lawrence W. Jennings decided to take a step up in class and run him in the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
Neapolitan Way broke slowly in tenth place out of thirteen and was outrun early under jockey Herb Hinojosa.
Going into the final turn, Neapolitan Way lugged in and collided with Hudson County, causing a severe cut high on his left rear leg.
After the move inward, Hinojosa applied steady left handed whipping, straightening Neapolitan Way out at the top of the stretch.
In deep stretch, he moved into second place but was no threat to the winner, Little Current, who finished between seven and 21 lengths in front of the rest of the field.