Cherie Devaux Targets 2026 Derby Win With Golden Tempo
Cherie Devaux is trying to do what no female trainer has done before: win the Kentucky Derby with Golden Tempo in the 2026 race. Saturday will be her first start at the Derby, and the 152nd running now carries a shot at a barrier that has held through every previous renewal.
Golden Tempo On Derby Day
Golden Tempo gives Devaux her first Derby starter. She said, “This is our first Derby starter, and we’re one step closer.” That puts the horse at the center of her biggest career goal and her first chance to turn it into a result on the sport’s biggest stage.
Devaux has already trained a winning Breeders' Cup horse, so the Derby is not a leap into unknown company. The difference is the race itself: a female trainer has never trained a Kentucky Derby winning horse, and that is the line she is trying to cross with Golden Tempo.
DeVaux And The Barrier
Devaux said, “I don’t really look at it as male versus female,” and added, “The only thing I want to do in my career is be the first female to win a Kentucky Derby.” That goal gives her run a simple frame: one trainer, one horse, one race, and one long-standing record still untouched by a woman.
Her approach has stayed direct. She said, “I just try to do the best I can, but in the back of my mind, just to be a strong role model.” She also told LEX18, “Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there” and “You have to be willing to fail to be able to succeed.”
Saturday At The Derby
The 2026 Kentucky Derby is the 152nd running, and Devaux enters it with a horse that has already become part of the story. She posted on social media on May 2, 2026, “Big boy is resting up /9IQ68T6jjR” about Golden Tempo, a small clue that the horse was already being managed with the race in mind.
The result will decide whether Devaux’s first Derby start becomes a first for the race itself. If Golden Tempo gets there, she will leave with more than a starter’s badge; she will have turned the race’s oldest blank spot for female trainers into a finished line.
