Cherie DeVaux Sends Golden Tempo to Saratoga Belmont — Golden Tempo Trainer
Cherie DeVaux will watch Golden Tempo run in the 158th Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, five weeks after becoming the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner. For the golden tempo trainer, the race folds a career-breaking spring into a home-state setting where she was born and first learned the sport.
Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby as a 23-1 long shot after surging from the back of the pack. DeVaux has said of that victory, "I just see myself as a horse trainer."
Saratoga Roots for DeVaux
DeVaux was born in Saratoga Springs, New York, and later returned to the upstate area to study at the University of Albany after growing up in Florida. The school was about a 30-minute drive away, and after two years she stopped pursuing a degree and began working in horse racing as a hot walker for the late trainer Chuck Simon.
She later worked as an assistant trainer for Chad Brown before opening her own stable in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2018. That path runs straight into Saturday’s Belmont, because Saratoga is hosting the race for the third and final time before it moves back to Belmont Park next year.
Golden Tempo and the Derby Breakthrough
The Derby win already put DeVaux in a different lane. She has said, "I thought winning the Kentucky Derby was an achievable goal at some point in my career," and also, "It’s an honor to be the one that is the first female."
She added, "But that’s not really what my focus is on." That fits the way she has handled the result since Golden Tempo surged from the rear to win, then kept moving forward into another showcase race only five weeks later.
Family, Friends, and Saratoga
DeVaux has also treated Saratoga as more than a destination on the calendar. "It’s an amazing opportunity to get to spend with my family in the build-up and the week of," she said, and added, "Getting to spend time with my family, the young ones that don’t get to come to the races — my nieces and nephews — so I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to share what I do with them."
Todd Shimkus said, "Having a local connection always just amps up everything around here and the interest level," and added, "Cherie, this year, is the rock star coming back to Saratoga, where she’s got family and friends and a community that has totally embraced the historic success she’s had, especially this year." DeVaux has called Saratoga "a beautiful track" and said, "It’s all about horse racing."
Saturday gives her a chance to return to the place where her career began with a horse that already delivered one milestone and now carries it into another. Janet Elliot put it simply: "I’m just a trainer."
