LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Cherie DeVaux spent the week at Churchill Downs talking a lot about the possibility of becoming the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner as she got ready to be just the 18th to enter a horse in the opening jewel of American thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown Series.
Charging from the back of the pack and down the stretch to win the 152nd edition of the “Run for the Roses” on Saturday evening, Golden Tempo made history for DeVaux, taking her breath away in the process and rendering the woman who trained him nearly speechless.
“I don’t even have any words right now,” DeVaux said. “I just can’t.”
DeVaux is just the second female trainer with a victory in any Triple Crown race; Jena Antonucci won with Arcangelo in the 2023 Belmont Stakes. The 44-year-old won the Kentucky Derby in her first opportunity, eight years after starting her own stable.
“Being a woman or my gender has never really crossed my mind in this journey of mine,” DeVaux said. “I’m glad I can be a representative of all women everywhere that we can do anything we set our minds do.”
During the week, DeVaux shifted from downplaying what it would mean to be the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner to understanding she’s a role model to girls who might want to follow in her footsteps someday.
“I’m just glad I don’t have to answer that question anymore,” DeVaux said a little more than an hour after the crowning achievement of her career — at least so far. “There was a joke about me being one and done, but I think I’m going to need to do this again.”
DeVaux, who credits growing up with seven brothers and two sisters for her toughness, downplayed Golden Tempo’s cracked heels as a nonfactor. She also worked hard to get the colt into form long before the Kentucky Derby, trying blinkers and other things to get him to focus ahead of the battle with some of the country’s best 3-year-olds.
Jockey Jose Ortiz even described Golden Tempo as lazy, but the 32-year-old from Puerto Rico showed what he and the horse could do Saturday, winning the famed race for the first time on his 11th try.
Ortiz navigated past 17 other horses around the final turn and made a hard charge down the stretch. With a crowd of more than 100,000 watching and roaring at Churchill Downs, Golden Tempo passed favorite Renegade — ridden by Jose’s brother Irad Ortiz — just before the wire to win the 1 1/4-mile race in 2 minutes and 2.27 seconds at odds of 23-1.
Their parents were there to witness it.
“I get to ride it almost every year, but to get to win it, it’s just special,” said Ortiz, who also won the Kentucky Oaks for fillies Friday night aboard Always a Runner, which is trained by Chad Brown. “I just wish my grandpa was here, but I know he’s looking down from heaven. Just very happy that I get my goal, my life dream goal achieved.”
Golden Tempo paid $48.24 to win, $19.14 to place and $11.90 to show. Renegade paid $7.14 to place and $5.46 to show. Ocelli — who didn’t get into the field until Thursday when Brad Cox’s Fulleffort was ruled out — paid $36.34 to show.
The Kentucky Derby went on with just 18 horses. Great White was a late scratch after flipping and throwing his jockey on the way to the starting gate. Track veterinarians made the call to scratch the long shot who got into the field Wednesday when Silent Tactic was ruled out because of a foot injury.
The Puma was ruled out earlier in the day, less than 12 hours before post time, because of a swollen leg from a skin infection. It was past the deadline for Corona de Oro to draw into the field off the also-eligible list.
Great White’s trainer, John Ennis, confirmed to The Associated Press that the big gray gelding and jockey Alex Achard, who was on the ground but clear of the horse before he rolled over, were fine.
Great White became the fifth horse scratched this week. Silent Tactic was ruled out Wednesday, Fulleffort on Thursday and Right to Party on Friday, with Great White, Ocelli and Robusta, respectively, getting in.
Asked about whether Golden Tempo would run in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes on May 16 at Maryland’s Laurel Park, which is subbing in this year as Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course is rebuilt, DeVaux said the decision would be made in the coming days depending on how the horse is doing.
“We’re going to let him decide that,” DeVaux said. “We’re going to have to allow him to tell us, because the horse is first.”
The Triple Crown trail closes June 6 with the 1 1/4-mile Belmont Stakes, which, due to renovations at its regular home of Belmont Park near New York City, is being held for the third year in a row at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs — the upstate New York town where DeVaux was born.
Nearly a dozen members of her family piled into a big white van and drove all the way from New York to Louisville to watch Golden Tempo run. Stories were told, shenanigans ensued and only one topic was off limits during the 14-hour drive.
“No one was allowed to say we’re going to win, because I’m superstitious,” sister Adrianne DeVaux said. “No one’s allowed to say that. Since I was a little kid watching races, we’re not allowed to say we’re going to win.”
No jinxes were created on their journey, which turned out to be worth it and then some.
“They’re probably not going to sleep,” the winning trainer said of her family at the celebratory news conference after the race, knowing they have another long ride to tackle Sunday. “I don’t know if there’s enough Red Bull or energy drinks in the world for them, but they’re probably riding high.”
They weren’t exactly riding in silence on the way, though one of Cherie’s sisters lost her voice before the trip started and dad Butch, Adrianne said, was beaten down into keeping his mouth shut. He obliged.
“I was told get in there, be quiet and you can open your mouth when you get down there,” Butch said. “It was a long, long ride.”
Adrianne, herself also a trainer based at Belmont Park, documented the drive on social media using the hashtag #devauxsonthegeaux. Picking up passengers in New Paltz, the whole crew got on the road just after 2 p.m. Thursday.
“How many did we have, Nine? Ten? I don’t know,” Adrianne said. “We lost count.”
Brother Kenneth chimed in: “We didn’t lose any people.”
And on Saturday, their sister’s horse won the race.