Golden Tempo

'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Golden Tempo (Curlin), the Keeneland-based winner of GI Kentucky Derby, on Saturday had his final work in preparation for the GI Belmont Stakes June 6 at Saratoga Race Course, the track said in a press release on Saturday morning. With jockey Jose Ortiz aboard for trainer Cherie DeVaux, the colt covered four furlongs on a fast track in :48.20. At 7:30 a.m. ET--after the first morning renovation period--Golden Tempo worked on the inside of 4-year-old stakes-placed winner So Sandy (Omaha Beach). Golden Tempo produced...

The historically unrewarding inside post position--now winless in 41 years--kept Renegade from being favored in the GI Kentucky Derby. But the adverse gate draw and some jostling both after the break and in the final stages didn't keep this hard-charging Into Mischief colt from barreling home with a tenacious late run that, in many years, would have been good enough to win the first leg of the Triple Crown. The connections of Renegade (like 15 other Derby participants) predictably bypassed the May 16 GI Preakness Stakes. After breezing a half-mile...

The trio of 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Emerging Market (Candy Ride {Arg}), Ottinho (Quality Road)and Growth Equity (Nyquist) trained by five-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown and the 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Chief Wallabee (Constitution) for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott worked Saturday across Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park in preparation for the GI Belmont Stakes at the Spa June 6, the NYRA press office said in a Saturday release. The pair of Ottinho and Growth Equity worked in company over the Belmont Park dirt...

Kentucky Derby hero Golden Tempo (Curlin) will stand at Lane's End Farm at the conclusion of his racing career, the farm announced Friday morning. Hailing from an accomplished female line as a homebred for Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stables, the son of Curlin put himself on the Derby trail via Louisiana's point race series, including a win in the GIII Lecomte Stakes, and placings in the GII Risen Star and GII Louisiana Derby. He returned on the first Saturday in May to make history as not just his venerable...

Golden Tempo (Curlin), the winner of the GI Kentucky Derby, put in his first workout at Keeneland on Friday, May 15 since capturing the big race for trainer Cherie DeVaux, according to a post on X by Gabby Gaudet. In company with 4-year-old stablemate So Sandy (Omaha Beach), the 3-year-old drilled four furlongs in :48.60 (10/74). The splits for the half mile move were :25.2, :36.2 and :48.3. Golden Tempo galloped out five-eighths in 1:01.1. Owned by Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable, the colt could be pointing to a...

Chip Honcho (Connect) had his final major tune-up for the May 16 GI Preakness Stakes when he worked four furlongs in :50.20 (39/47) at Churchill Downs Sunday. Exercise rider Luiyi Ortiz was aboard for the work, which was one of trainer Steve Asmussen's typical easy half-mile moves the week of a race. Chip Honcho's big work came May 2, when he worked five furlongs in 1:00.00 (1/14). "I think we're in a very good place with him right now," said Asmussen, who won the Preakness in 2007 with Curlin and...

That must have been a good sandwich. It was certainly a memorable one. Walker Hancock of Claiborne Farm distinctly remembers eating subs from Jersey Mike's one fall afternoon in 2021 with Daisy Phipps Pulito and Claiborne's farm manager Bradley Purcell in Claiborne's conference room. The three of them sat down over those sandwiches to hash out mating plans for the Phipps mares for 2022. "It all goes back to some Jersey Mike's subs," said Hancock with a laugh. "We did the matings for her mares for that following year that...

A group of GI Belmont Stakes contenders are beginning to assemble at Saratoga Race Course. Leading the contingent is GI Arkansas Derby-winner and recent GI Kentucky Derby runner-up Renegade (Into Mischief), who arrived upstate for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher on Wednesday. The colt returned to training on Thursday, and again on Friday morning for some light exercise in his first on-track appearances since finishing a neck second to Golden Tempo (Curlin) in the "Run for the Roses" at Churchill Downs last Saturday. Renegade is in Saratoga to prepare...

With the announcement that Golden Tempo (Curlin) will be skipping the GI Preakness Stakes, the GI Kentucky Derby winner's jockey Jose Ortiz has picked up the mount on Chip Honcho (Connect) in the May 16 Classic. Ortiz rode the Steve Asmussen-trained colt to his maiden win at Churchill Downs last November. Paco Lopez rode the colt to victory in the Dec. 20 Gun Runner Stakes and Luis Saez was aboard for his runner-up effort in the Feb. 14 GII Risen Star Stakes and fifth-place finish in the Mar. 21 GII...

At this point in time, there is no reasonable argument to be made that the Preakness should remain two weeks after the Kentucky Derby. Four winners in just the last seven years (2019-2026) have bypassed the second leg of the Triple Crown. These include Golden Tempo (2026), Sovereignty (2025), Rich Strike (2022), and Country House (2019). How stupid do you want to get? Would you like the American Triple Crown to be a practical non-entity as with the English Triple Crown, where you are extremely lucky to have a participant...

The TDN Writers' Room team had so much to say and so many people to talk to when it came to this year's GI Kentucky Derby, that we decided that one podcast was not enough. Our traditional podcast features winning trainer Cherie DeVaux (watch that here), but how could we overlook jockey Jose Ortiz or co-owner Daisy Phipps Pulito? We couldn't, so we gave each of them a podcast of their own. It was a memorable couple of days for Ortiz, who won both the Derby on Golden Tempo (Curlin)...

Jose Ortiz is one of the nation's best jockeys, but he had never won the Kentucky Derby until he steered Golden Tempo to victory on May 2, 2026 at Churchill Downs. Jose talks to the Writers' Room team about the experience on this Overtime episode.