Cherie DeVaux, Golden Tempo’s trainer, made more history Saturday at the Belmont Stakes, which her horse won after also taking the Kentucky Derby last month.
DeVaux — who earned the honor as the first female trainer to win the iconic race at Churchill Downs — is the first woman to win multiple Triple Crown races, while also being the second woman to train the winner of the Belmont Stakes in the last four years, according to the Guardian.
“Golden Tempo is amazing. Jose is amazing,” DeVaux said on the Fox broadcast, when asked about making history. “… It’s just a lot, amazing feeling. I don’t know. I have to name a horse Amazing now.”
This time, Golden Tempo held off Commandment and Renegade — with the latter the favorite for the race — to win the third edition of the Belmont Stakes in Saratoga Springs, with the track on Long Island undergoing renovations and set to reopen next year.
DeVaux, who was born in Saratoga Springs, said after Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby that she was “glad I can be a representative of all women everywhere, that we can do anything we set our minds to.”
And Saturday, she joined Jena Antonucci — the trainer for Arcangelo in 2023 — as women to win the Belmont Stakes while in front of family.
“It’s so meaningful because the town gets to have this and celebrate it with all of us,” DeVaux said.
The natural question lingering after the race, though, was what would’ve happened if Golden Tempo had run the Preakness Stakes — the looming debate of whether the horse could have possibly won the Triple Crown.
At the time of the decision, Cherie DeVaux Racing cited additional time, health and Golden Tempo’s long-term future as reasons for why they skipped the second leg of the Triple Crown, and Saturday, in the spotlight of yet another historical moment in horse racing, DeVaux doubled down on her decision.
“It’s not something I’m gonna think about,” DeVaux said when asked about Golden Tempo and the Triple Crown. “We made our decision and he won today, and we’re gonna be happy about that.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
