For more than a decade, Cherie DeVaux helped train other people’s horses as she dreamed of one day taking the reins herself.
That dream came true, and then some.
DeVaux became the first woman to train the winning horse at the Kentucky Derby when Golden Tempo claimed the 152nd Run for the Roses on Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Before starting her stable, DeVaux climbed her way up the ranks, beginning as a stable worker for the late Chuck Simon before becoming an assistant trainer for Chad Brown. In 2018, she finally acquired her trainer’s license and went out on her own.
“It was a conversation with my now husband,” DeVaux, 44, said to WLEX-TV about her decision to go solo. “I was burned out from being an assistant trainer. I wanted to do something more for myself, have a little bit more of a personal life.”
DeVaux’s initial plan was to see how training by herself went for three years, but she would win her first race only 11 months later. Though the start of the pandemic soon halted her momentum, DeVaux kept at it, eventually taking the Breeder’s Cup in 2024.
On Saturday, DeVaux’s first time at the Kentucky Derby was the charm, as Golden Tempo made a late surge to defeat one of the favorites in Renegade. Golden Tempo, like his trainer, had to make his own arduous climb, galloping from last place all the way to a victory.
DeVaux’s dream was realized in large part due to jockey Jose Ortiz, who defeated his own brother — who was on top of Renegade — for the win.
“I don’t have any words right now,” DeVaux said on the broadcast after the victory. “I’m just so, so, so happy for Golden Tempo. Jose did a wonderful job, a masterful job at getting him there. He was so far out of it, and he has had so much faith in this horse.”
The closest a woman had come to training the winning horse in the Derby prior to DeVaux was Shelley Riley in 1992, who trained Casual Lies to a second-place finish. The only other woman to win a Triple Crown race is Jena Antonucci, who won the 2023 Belmont Stakes with Arcangelo.
Leading up to Saturday’s race, DeVaux was not shy about her chance to make history, saying the “only thing that I want to do in my career is be the first female to win a Kentucky Derby.”
She added: “Being a female in this industry, the standards aren’t always equal. ... In the back of my mind is to always be a strong role model for those that aren’t like me.”
After winning, DeVaux didn’t downplay the enormity of her achievement.
“I’m glad I can be representative of women everywhere,” DeVaux said in a postrace interview on the broadcast. “We can do anything we set our minds to.”
With the Kentucky Derby in her pocket, could DeVaux now try to be the first woman to win the Triple Crown? She didn’t commit to running Golden Tempo in the Preakness on May 16, saying she would see how the horse responded before making a decision.
Ultimately, the Kentucky Derby was about DeVaux cementing her own legacy in the sport.
“Being a woman or my gender has never really crossed my mind in this,” DeVaux said in her victory press conference. “The thing that really has become apparent to me is not everyone has the same constitution I have mentally. It really is an honor to be that person for other women or other little girls to look up to.”
“You can dream big and you can pivot, you can come from one place and make yourself a part of history.”
