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Cherie DeVaux on making Kentucky Derby history, Golden Tempo's Preakness decision

Tyler-Thompsonby: Tyler Thompson05/04/26MrsTylerKSR

Cherie DeVaux is America’s darling after Golden Tempo’s Kentucky Derby win, the first for a female trainer in the race’s history. While Golden Tempo gets a few days off, DeVaux is still hard at work, making the media rounds to talk about the historic win and what lies ahead.

This morning, DeVaux appeared on the TODAY Show, admitting that she hasn’t had much time to rest or reflect on Saturday’s big moment. The videos of DeVaux’s reaction as Golden Tempo, a 23-1 longshot, stormed from behind to outrun Renegade in the final stretch went viral as fans embraced her energy and the history being made. She said her behavior during races has “tapered down” as she’s gotten older, but when it’s the Kentucky Derby and your horse is making its move, inhibitions go out the door.

“That is not tapered down; that is definitely all systems go. If you win the Kentucky Derby, man — male, female, whatever, you should have a reaction.”

Are we in for an encore performance at the Preakness on May 16? DeVaux said they’ll decide whether or not to run Golden Tempo in the second leg of the Triple Crown based on how he responds in workouts this week. The Preakness draw is one week from today, Monday, May 11.

“It’s up to the horse,” she said. “That’s the first part. The horse comes first in any conversation, so he needs to be back, healthy, jumping up and down, feeling his oats. He was quite full of himself that week. That gave me a lot of confidence because he’s always been so relaxed. You could light a firework behind him, and he just wouldn’t care. He was not like that leading up. He was really coming into himself.

“He has to be feeling that,” she added. “He has to be sound, which you know, jogging up, making sure there’s no ailments, no little injury we’re missing, and then we’ll discuss as a group what is best for him.”

The Preakness is the shortest of the Triple Crown races, at 1 and 3/16 miles. As a deep closer, Golden Tempo may be better suited for longer races like the Derby (1 and 1/4 miles) and the Belmont (1 and 1/2 miles); however, the Preakness is not off the table.

“We’ll have to see how he comes out of the race,” DeVaux said. “He gets a couple of easy days. He’s probably snoozing right now. We’ll try to make a decision by the end of the week.”

A Belmont homecoming for DeVaux

Even if Golden Tempo doesn’t run in the Preakness, DeVaux’s story could come full circle in the Belmont. This year, the race will be run at Saratoga, where DeVaux was raised and got her start in the industry. After spending her first two years of college at Florida Gulf Coast University, DeVaux transferred to SUNY-Albany and was on a pre-med track. She took a job at Saratoga during the summers, where she fell in love with the sport. She worked her way up to assistant trainer for Chad Brown at Saratoga and, in 2018, started her own stable, thanks in part to some encouragement from her husband David Ingordo, a bloodstock agent.

“I was at a crossroads in my life. Being an assistant trainer takes a lot of your time. You’re the first one there, last one to leave, and I was in a highly successful barn, and he said, ‘What do you want to do?’ And I said, ‘Well, I don’t want to do this.’ He said, ‘Well, you should be a trainer.’ I said, ‘No, I’m good.’

“After an hour of chatting, I said, ‘Well, you better go take some therapy classes, psychology classes, because you’re going to have to be my biggest therapist.'”

DeVaux’s bet on herself paid off on Saturday, a moment that has transcended the sport. On the TODAY Show, she continued to downplay her status as a trailblazer, saying simply, “I consider myself a horse trainer, and I just happen to be a female.” However, she is clearly an inspiration to women, girls, and horse racing fans everywhere — even the Kentucky Women’s Basketball team.

Donna Brothers, the first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race, interviewed DeVaux before the race, her final Kentucky Derby broadcast after 26 years covering the sport. The one-minute interview was made even more special by the race’s result. Fingers crossed Golden Tempo runs it back in the Preakness.

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2026-05-21