LOUISVILLE, KY. — Golden Tempo raced from the back of the pack to win the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, holding off morning-line favorite Renegade at the finish and making Cherie DeVaux the first female trainer to claim victory in a race that was being run for the 152nd time.
Golden Tempo, who was a 23-1 long shot at post time, was well off the lead at the top of the stretch. Then jockey Jose Ortiz urged the horse on, and Golden Tempo thundered past the rest of the field, with Renegade following suit. Ocelli, an also-eligible horse that got into the field during the week and went off at 70-1, was third.
“There was a lot of speed on tap on paper, and that materialized,” DeVaux said in a postrace news conference. “I watched Jose come up and get himself in position going into the final turn. At about the 3/16 pole, I thought, ‘We’re probably going to win this.’ Then I really kind of blacked out after that.”
“I knew my horse was a big closer, so I don’t have any interest in being over early,” Ortiz said at the news conference. “You can see the way I broke, when I come up to the rail and save ground, so I did that, and I was hoping for a big run late and a fast pace, and we had it.”
“I’m just so, so, so happy for Golden Tempo,” DeVaux said in a postrace interview on the NBC broadcast. “Jose did a wonderful job, masterful job, at getting him there — he was so far out of it — and he’s had so much faith in this horse.”
“Training Golden Tempo has really been a treat,” DeVaux said. “There’s not a lot of times when a colt that is as big as he is, is as pleasurable as he is. He is just such a consummate professional. He’s got a wonderful personality, so really, he allowed us to train him, and he responded to what we asked him to do throughout each process. He improved each race. We trained him a bit hard in between, and he showed up for us every time. He’s done everything we’ve asked of him and obviously winning the Kentucky Derby.”
It was the first Derby win for Ortiz, who was also aboard the Kentucky Oaks winner Always a Runner on Friday.
He outdueled his brother, Irad Ortiz Jr., who was riding Renegade.
“I thought (Renegade) was going to drop a little bit to the back. But I also knew he was a very nice horse. So I was expecting him to run a very good race, maybe win it,” Ortiz says, and then continues with a chuckle: “I didn’t know he was going to be second. It’s a good time for him to be second. Like I said before, hopefully he gets the opportunity to win it one day.”
Renegade’s second-place finish was another Derby disappointment for owner Mike Repole, the brash billionaire who is now 0-for-9 in the opening leg of the Triple Crown, not including three scratches.
It was instead a historic day for DeVaux. She is the second female trainer to win a Triple Crown race, following Jena Antonucci’s victory with Arcangelo at the 2023 Belmont Stakes.
“I’m glad that I can be a representative of all women everywhere,” DeVaux said on the NBC broadcast. “That we can do anything we set our minds to.”
“The thing that really has become apparent to me is that not everyone has the same constitution as I have mentally,” DeVaux said later in a news conference. “It really is an honor to be able to be that person for other women and other little girls to look up to. You can dream big, and you can pivot. You can … make yourself part of history.”
Cherie DeVaux, trainer of Golden Tempo, celebrates with the trophy in the winner’s circle after the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
The race had an inauspicious start with a scratch at post time as Great White reared up and sent his rider to the ground before entering the gate. Great White was the No. 21 horse, which meant most of the field was already in the gate.
The horses had to leave the gate while Great White was safely ushered off the track. The field then quickly re-entered the gate. In all, it was a roughly five-minute delay.
So Happy, the trendy pick that had become one of the favorites through Saturday’s betting, took the early lead. Six Speed and then Danon Bourbon led for most of the rest of the race. Ocelli, a 50-1 long shot on the morning line odds, had the lead midway down the final straight before Golden Tempo’s charge.
Jose Ortiz could hardly contain his emotions after becoming the ninth jockey to win the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby in the same year.
“It’s a dream come true,” Ortiz said through tears on the NBC broadcast. “This is the biggest race in the world for me, and I’m just blessed.
“… I’m just very happy that I get my life dream goal achieved, and, you know, it’s just an amazing experience. I can’t wait to see my family and celebrate.”
This year’s “Race for the Roses” drew a crowd of 150,415 despite uncharacteristically cold Derby weather. The high at Churchill Downs was forecast to be 59 degrees, putting Saturday among the coldest race days since 1989, when temperatures dropped below 40 degrees.
So, will Golden Tempo run in the Preakness?
Devaux says, “We’re gonna let him decide that. We’re gonna see how he runs tomorrow, and subsequently the next couple weeks or the next couple days… We’re going to have to allow him to tell us. We’re not here for ourselves, we’re here for the horse.”
Full results and payouts
1. No. 19 Golden Tempo
2. No. 1 Renegade
3. No. 22 Ocelli
4. No. 12 Chief Wallabee
5. No. 7 Danon Bourbon
6. No. 11 Incredibolt
7. No. 6 Commandment
8. No. 10 Wonder Dean
9. No. 8 So Happy
10. No. 15 Emerging Market
11. No. 18 Further Ado
12. No. 14 Potente
13. No. 17 Six Speed
14. No. 23 Robusta
15. No. 2 Albus
16. No. 3 Intrepido
17. No. 4 Litmus Test
18. No. 16 Pavlovian
$48.24 for the win on Golden Tempo
$2 exacta on Golden Tempo-Renegade: $278.86
$.50 trifecta on Golden Tempo-Renegade-Ocelli: $5,625.39
