DeVaux speaks less Derby, more Belmont with Golden Tempo

Louisville, Ky.

On the way back to her hometown for Belmont Stakes 2026 on Saturday at Saratoga, Cherie DeVaux made a quietly triumphant return to Churchill Downs.

Well-wishers and friends and dutiful media types approached her to repeat the congratulations that showered her after Golden Tempo made DeVaux the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner.

Belmont Stakes: Post positions and morning-line odds.

“It still kind of sounds funny,” she said when she was asked whether the reality had sunk in yet. “No, it hasn’t. It’s been a really busy couple weeks. Then we’re obviously prepping to go to the Belmont, so it’s kind of not resting on our laurels.”

That brings about a more familiar kind of reality for DeVaux. Preparing a horse to start in a big race. Already with a Breeders’ Cup winner in More Than Looks plus four other times hitting the board in those championships, DeVaux hopes Golden Tempo will become the 13th horse to complete the Derby-Belmont without winning the Preakness.

“We’ve got a full barn of horses, babies showing up and shipping in, so in that regard, it’s a little hard to really sit and let it settle in,” DeVaux told Horse Racing Nation on Saturday. “I think that’s the grounding nature of our industry. If you have a great day, you have to come back. If you have a bad day, you have to come back. I like that aspect of what we do.”

Her current reality has DeVaux putting Golden Tempo into another 1 1/4-mile classic where José Ortiz is likely to ride him through a patient trip in hopes of making a late rally to win. That was precisely what Ortiz did May 2, catching Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Renegade at the wire to win America’s biggest race by a neck.

Renegade is back for co-owner Mike Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher, who has added pacesetting maiden winner Powershift to a mix that appears to lack the strong early speed that was on display last month at Churchill.

If Renegade can benefit from chasing Powershift, why can’t Golden Tempo do the same thing Saturday working from the outermost draw in the field of nine 3-year-olds?

“He can,” said DeVaux, 45, a native of Saratoga Springs, N.Y. “(Powershift) can also get an easy lead, which would make him a formidable foe when we’re trying to fit in the latter stages of the race. But I really don’t think about things I can’t control. I can only control how my horse is training and going into it, and that’s what I focus on.”

Golden Tempo, a 3-year-old Curlin colt bred and owned by Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable, has worked three times at Keeneland since the Derby. He went a half-mile in 48.6 seconds on May 15, five furlongs in 1:00.2 on May 23 and a half-mile in 48.2 seconds on Saturday. In that most recent workout he carried Ortiz in tandem with allowance-winning 4-year-old colt So Sandy.

“It’s just business as usual,” DeVaux said. “He’s always trained in company just because he’s a laid-back horse. He just seems to get a lot more out of his works in company. I’ve never had him solo.”

DeVaux said Golden Tempo looked good to her not just in those three drills but also around the Keeneland barn.

“He acts like he’s going to take another step forward, mostly touting himself kind of just in his attitude,” DeVaux said. “He seems pretty confident, so it looks like it’s in there, and hopefully we get to see it Saturday.”

One underplayed move that DeVaux made came after Golden Tempo, who won his first two races, finished third in a six-length loss Feb. 14 in the Risen Star (G2) at Fair Grounds. She added blinkers for the Louisiana Derby (G2), in which Golden Tempo came home third but lost by just one length to Emerging Market, who also will be in the Belmont Stakes.

The equipment change was not to get Golden Tempo to move forward as much as it was to pinpoint his attention on the task at hand in the homestretch.

“That was the idea,” DeVaux said. “He does give himself a lot to do, but he was starting to get a little green in his runs. It really has (focused him), at least when he makes his run through the bridle and run through the wire.”

He will not carry his 23-1 Derby odds in the Belmont, and the fractions might not be as rapid in front of him this time around. In fact, Golden Tempo could find himself in a similar position as he was 4 1/2 months ago in his stakes debut. The competition might not have been as tough, but he closed from last place into a middling pace to win the Lecomte (G3).

“He just closes, so it’s just if he’s going to get there or not, and that’s up to José,” DeVaux said. “Golden Tempo has never run a bad race, but he makes the difference. Golden Tempo, he’s a great horse, but José has to really calculate the ride, and, when he asks him, time that run correctly. ... He really did a great job in (the Derby). Everything went according to plan if you could write it out, which doesn’t usually happen.”

If Golden Tempo wins Saturday, he would duplicate the Derby-Belmont double that Sovereignty pulled off in 2025, right down to the not-so-small detail of skipping the Preakness. Last year marked the first time that a horse successfully bookended the two classics after his connections just said no to going to Maryland.

DeVaux was succinct in dismissing any questions of regret in forfeiting the chance for a Triple Crown. It was in keeping with her philosophy of not looking back. She was quite open about the immediate future of the Belmont as well as the long-term goals of the Travers (G1) in August and the Breeders’ Cup Classic in October. But she deflected a hypothetical question about the immediate past and whether Golden Tempo could have kept Napoleon Solo from winning May 15 at Laurel Park.

“Again, it’s kind of like the races,” she said. “I make my decision to move forward. I don’t really think about what if. It’s just we made the decision. I’m not really worried about the Preakness. I was happy for the winners, but as far as having any regrets, that’s just another wasted use of my brain.”