LOUISVILLE — A precedent-shattering Kentucky Derby came down to a stretch drive like few others in the 152-year history of the race. A race that looked wide open on paper became w-i-d-e open at the very end. Every few strides, the apparent winner changed.
A variety of dreams bloomed and died in a matter of seconds.
Japan-based runner Danon Bourbon led coming off the final turn and looked like he was pulling away, opening up a two-length margin. Then massive long shot Ocelli (70–1) busted through traffic and rolled up alongside Danon Bourbon, seemingly taking command. But wait a second, on the outside here came Renegade, the morning-line favorite, overcoming the No. 1 post and looking like he would finally deliver hard-luck Derby horse owner Mike Repole to the winner’s circle.
And then, even further outside, in the middle of the track, along came the horse whose jockey described him as “lazy.” Along came Golden Tempo, whose tempo appeared anything but golden as he dawdled in last place most of the 1 1/4-mile race. Along came a 23–1 shot who would decide a stunning Puerto Rican sibling duel at the wire, delivering little brother José Ortiz past big brother Irad—the more accomplished of the two riders until this weekend—by a neck in the final five jumps.
And along came history, with Cherie DeVaux becoming the first female trainer to crash the eternal boys club that has been the Derby winner’s circle. This is not her favorite subject. “I’m just glad I don’t have to answer that question anymore,” she said in the post-race news conference.
The pioneer label is not something she ever sought, but a Derby win is what every trainer chases, and the post-race emotions are always powerful. DeVaux’s white sneakers with the red laces barely touched the ground as she repeatedly jumped and threw her hands in the air after the garland of roses was draped across Golden Tempo’s withers.
Watching the race’s dizzying climax, the 44-year-old DeVaux believed with 3/16ths of a mile to go that Golden Tempo could get there. But when he made the lead, “I kind of blacked out,” she said.
“I started my career here [at Churchill Downs] 22 years ago as a bright‑eyed, bushy‑tailed exercise rider,” DeVaux said. “And I would not believe that I would be sitting up here today. Never in my life did I think I would.”
With seven brothers and two sisters, she grew up in the racing hotbed of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where her family was involved in harness racing. DeVaux studied pre-med at Florida Gulf Coast University, then Albany, but working at the racetrack sounded a lot more fun than studying organic chemistry. Her college adviser was not convinced that was a great career move.
DeVaux went to work for the late trainer Chuck Simon, who had something of a project on his hands.
“I was a wild child,” she said. “Chuck saw I was going the wrong way and took me under his wing and made me be an assistant trainer, begrudgingly, because I was really enjoying the party life. But he kind of wrangled me in.”
After six years with Simon, DeVaux moved to the barn of high-profile trainer Chad Brown for eight years before striking out on her own in 2018. Things did not go well at first. DeVaux went nearly 11 months before saddling her first winner, prompting some soul searching. Her husband, bloodstock agent David Ingordo, told her to give it three years.
“I’m one of those thick‑minded people that thinks it’s always going to work out,” she said. “So, you know, it took a while. I have to say an immense amount of gratitude to my husband who has stuck behind me.”
Her 30th starter, a maiden named Traveling, finally broke through at Gulfstream Park in late March 2019. It would be another four months until her second winner. But by the end of that year, the victories started coming consistently.
In 2024, DeVaux’s horses earned more than $10 million in purses. More Than Looks won the Breeders’ Cup Mile, establishing her at the highest level of the game, and it was around then that some of the most deep-pocketed owners started sending her their horses. Among them: Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable, the co-owners of Golden Tempo.
“I have been watching the way she trains,” said Daisy Phipps Pulito, owner and racing manager of what has been a generations-deep racing and breeding operation. “She’s in Kentucky. I live in Kentucky. And I love the way she develops a horse.”
The development of Golden Tempo was hardly linear. Last summer, the DeVaux horse that burst upon the scene as a 2-year-old was Englishman, but he wound up sidelined from September until Derby day, when he finished second in an undercard race. Meanwhile, Golden Tempo didn’t debut until Dec. 20, 2025.
After winning his first two races, including the Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, Golden Tempo had back-to-back third places in subsequent Louisiana stakes races. While that deflated expectations for the colt as a Derby prospect, it did not deter DeVaux.
“The goal wasn’t to win those races,” she said. “The goal was to win this race.”
Golden Tempo completed his last major pre-Derby workouts at Keeneland in Lexington, where DaVaux has her home base. But all did not seem to go smoothly upon arrival at Churchill. The colt developed cracked heels, which DeVaux described as “not a big deal.” But the scene at her barn Monday morning did not inspire confidence.
After training on the track, DeVaux had Golden Tempo out of his barn and jogging on the asphalt, then felt his ankles. She then barked angrily at a couple of her barn assistants. She backed off on his workload for the week, giving him successive “jog days” instead of pushing too hard.
“It was just one of those things where you just have to have in the process, faith in the horse, and faith in José [Ortiz],” she said.
The DeVaux-Ortiz relationship runs deep. He likely could have had the mount on a more highly touted Derby horse, but chose to stay with Golden Tempo because of loyalty to DeVaux. He’s the only rider the colt has had in his racing career.
As such, he’s accustomed to Golden Tempo’s low-energy starts. Knowing his horse, and accurately appraising that this Derby would have a stout early pace, Ortiz delivered a ride of masterful patience and decision-making.
Starting well outside in post 16, Ortiz avoided early bumping coming out of the gate by steering Golden Tempo to the rail, far behind the leaders. He stayed there for more than 3/4 of a mile, at times not even appearing on the screen as the rest of the pack rolled down the backstretch.
But when it was time to move, Ortiz made three savvy decisions. The first was to split two other trailing horses on the far turn, Albus and Robusta, to save ground. The second was to lock on to Renegade and follow him as he began to accelerate through traffic and into position. And the third was to swing way wide, outside of Renegade and Incredibolt, as those two clogged the lane in front of Golden Tempo.
“I felt like we were moving along very nice,” Ortiz said. “I felt like going outside on him wasn’t going to hurt me.”
José and Irad Ortiz have competed against each other many times. The urgency of the situation left no time for them to ponder the bigger familial picture: Both of them surged for the wire in search of their first Derby victory. Only one could win.
“I could see it happening,” José Ortiz said. “But I didn’t know he was going to be second, you know? It’s cool for him, he run second. Hopefully he gets the opportunity to win it one day.”
“Today is not that day,” DeVaux responded.
“It wasn’t today,” José said back, as laughter ensued.
At varying points in a wildly taut 152nd Kentucky Derby, Saturday appeared to be the day of dreams for at least four different horses and their connections. As the kaleidoscope kept changing in the stretch, it finally came into focus at the very end. A “lazy” horse, a little brother and a female pioneer combined to reach the wire first.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as From Last to Legend: Inside Golden Tempo’s Unlikely Kentucky Derby Triumph.
