DeVaux makes history with Golden Tempo in Ky. Derby
Louisville, Ky.
What does it take to make history in a race with 152 years of history?
Being the first female trainer to win the most famous horse race in the world helps, but it all starts with the horse.
Golden Tempo passed all 17 horses in a last-to-first blitz under jockey Jose Ortiz to win Kentucky Derby 2026 on Saturday at Churchill Downs, making Cherie DeVaux the first female trainer to win the run for the roses.
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The journey for Golden Tempo began in 2023 at Claiborne Farm for breeders Phipps and St. Elias Stables and then in August 2025 at the DeVaux barn at Ellis Park. But DeVaux’s journey to the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle began a generation ago beneath the Twin Spires and under the watchful eye of the now-late trainer Chuck Simon.
DeVaux eschewed pre-med studies and met Simon when working for her parents’ standardbred operation in New York. She eventually followed Simon to the Bluegrass, where she worked as his barn’s exercise rider and worked her way up to an assistant trainer role.
“Twenty-two years ago when I showed up here as an exercise rider, I never thought I’d end up here,” DeVaux said. “Chuck would be so proud. He pushed me. Being a woman or my gender has never really crossed my mind in this journey of mine.
“I have to say, for everyone, the racetrack is a tough place. It's a tough place if you're a man, it's a tough place if you're a woman. The thing that really has become apparent to me is that not everyone has the same constitution as I have mentally, but it is an honor to be someone girls can look up to now.”
Golden Tempo recorded his first workout Aug. 19 at Ellis and debuted four months later in a six-furlong race at Fair Grounds. DeVaux said there were no setbacks in Golden Tempo’s preparation for either his first career start or the Kentucky Derby.
Golden Tempo won his first two career starts, including arriving on the Derby trail with a win in the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes. A far-back third-place finish in the Risen Star (G2) had DeVaux trying blinkers for the Louisiana Derby (G1), but results were similar. Those last two results had a horse who was no worse than 4-1 in any of his four career starts going off at 23-1 in the Kentucky Derby.
“Handicappers don’t really see what we see,” DeVaux said. “I know my horse and have faith in my training. We knew we weren’t going to change our horse. The Louisiana Derby solidified our faith that he could get (the Derby distance). We had faith in the process, in our horse and in Jose. It’s like the song says, ‘You gotta have faith.’ ”
That faith was tested in the early stages of the Derby when Golden Tempo was last of 18 through the first three-quarters-mile of the race, with Ortiz not really making his move until into the far turn. Ortiz drafted behind his brother Irad Ortiz Jr. on Renegade and shifted outside for a furious rally.
“We’ve learned that he’s a deep closer who doesn’t like being taken out of his element,” the younger Ortiz brother said of his Derby-winning trip. “Once we broke well, I knew I had an opportunity to drop back and save ground. But I didn’t want to be inside when I made our move so I followed Irad on Renegade - that was the horse to beat- and just hoped my horse had it when I needed it, and he did.
“I hope Irad gets his Derby one day, but I’m glad it wasn’t today.”
The leaders throughout the race were Six Speed through fractions of 22.68, 46.44 and 1:10.90 before Japan-based Danon Bourbon took the lead by a couple lengths through a mile in 1:36.45 before being caught by the winning exacta plus Ocelli, who finished third, and Chief Wallabee in fourth. Golden Tempo completed the 1 1/4 miles on a track rated as fast in 2:02.27, which is fifth in 14 editions since the points era began in 2013.
Golden Tempo is by Curlin out of the Bernardini mare Carrumba, whom the Phipps family campaigned to multiple Grade 3 wins. Co-breeder Vinny Viola, who operates St. Elias Stable with his wife Teresa, credited former Thoroughbred Times bloodstock editor John Sparkman with coming up with the mating that produced Golden Tempo.
As for the Preakness Stakes on May 16 at Laurel Park, DeVaux said she would not even begin thinking about the middle jewel of U.S. Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown until Sunday morning. Last year’s Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty skipped the Preakness.
“We’ll let him decide starting with how he looks (Sunday),” DeVaux said. “Over the next days we’ll always put the horse first. We’re not here for egos or ourselves; we’re here for the horse.”
Repole Stable’s Renegade was a neck back in second, passing six horses in deep stretch. Unfortunately for him, Golden Tempo passed 11, including him.
“We got squeezed at the start,” Irad Ortiz said. “We came flying late, but the winner just got the jump on me; he ran very well.”
“He got a little roughed and got pushed out of his position, but he kept on going and made his run,” Renegade’s trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He just didn’t get there today.”