By Steve Sherack
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Friday evening wasn't the only 'Ladies Night' at Churchill Downs this weekend.
Cherie DeVaux became the first female trainer to win the GI Kentucky Derby, saddling Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable homebred Golden Tempo (Curlin) to a last-to-first upset at odds of 23-1 in the 152nd renewal on an unseasonably chilly first Saturday in May.
The 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' stormed home down the center to narrowly outkick the unlucky Renegade (Into Mischief), slammed hard at the start from his rail draw, by a neck.
The victory provided winning jockey Jose Ortiz with the Kentucky Derby/Oaks double after also guiding home Always a Runner (Gun Runner) first in primetime the day before. His brother Irad Ortiz, Jr. was aboard the 5-1 second-choice Renegade. It was another 3/4 of a length back to the 70-1 maiden Ocelli (Connect) in third.
“Being a woman or my gender has never really crossed my mind in this journey of mine,” DeVaux said. “I have to say, the racetrack is a tough place. It's a tough place if you are a man. It's a tough place if you're a woman.
“The thing that really has become apparent to me is that not everyone has the same constitution as I have mentally. It really is an honor to be able 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.”
DeVaux added, “I started my career here 22 years ago as a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed exercise rider. And I would not believe that I would be sitting up here today. Never in my life did I think I would. And (late trainer) Chuck (Simon), he would be so proud. I am here because of him.”
Drawn widest of all in post 18, Golden Tempo was brilliantly steered to the inside by Ortiz to trail the scratched-down field–there was a slight delay and reload with the gate scratch of Great White (Volatile)–passing the Twin Spires and crowd of 150,415 for the first time.
As expected, it was G2 UAE Derby runner-up Six Speed (Not This Time) who was the fastest of all 18 3-year-olds through early fractions of :22.68 and :46.44 with Golden Tempo in last.
Japan's unbeaten Danon Bourbon (Maxfield), sitting a fantastic tracking trip throughout, took charge on the far turn and kicked for home as the one to catch. He led by two lengths at the stretch call while hanging on his left lead, but the closers were storming in.
Ocelli, third in the GII Wood Memorial S., had first run and led ever-so-briefly before getting completely swallowed up.
Golden Tempo and GI Arkansas Derby winner Renegade closed in together, with Golden Tempo rolling over the top with Ortiz sporting the famed black-and-cherry Phipps colors to bring home the roses.
The final time for 1 1/4 miles over the fast main track was 2:02.27.
See you back at the GI Preakness S. in two weeks?
“We're going to let him decide that,” DeVaux said. “We're going to see how he looks tomorrow, and subsequently, the next couple weeks or, you know, the next couple days. But we're going to have to allow him to tell us, because the horse is first. We're not here for ourselves. We're not here for our egos. We're here for the horse.”
Vincent Viola's St. Elias Stable co-owned 2017 Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming.
“It's very special, because a bunch of thought went into that breeding going back to it,” Viola said. “I got to give John Sparkman a huge acknowledgment here. He was very, very certain about Curlin with that mare. And it feels really special.”
The Phipps Family also co-owned 2013 Derby hero Orb.
“This is everything to anybody in horse racing, really,” Daisy Phipps Pulito said. “This is what we breed to race. This is why you do it, to be on stages like this. And the way he ran and the way he was raised at Claiborne Farm.”
Golden Tempo, a 'Rising Star' debut winner at Fair Grounds Dec. 20, aced his two-turn debut with a come-from-behind win in the GIII Lecomte S. Jan. 17. A well-beaten third in the GII Fasig-Tipton Risen Star S. Feb. 14, he ran a much-improved third diving to the inside in deep stretch with blinkers added in the GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby Mar. 21.
“We always knew this horse had a lot of ability,” Ortiz said. “You could see early in his career we tried things because he's a lazy horse. I knew always Golden Tempo would be my Derby mount. This is an incredible experience. I just won the Kentucky Derby.”
Pedigree Notes:
He finally did it. After finishing third in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, seeing sons Exaggerator (2016), Good Magic (2018), and Journalism (2025) finish second in the Classic, and witnessing two of his sons–Keen Ice (2022) and Good Magic (2023)–sire Derby winners, Curlin won the Kentucky Derby with his own runner.
One of the most influential and storied sires of modern day, Curlin has a knack for showing up on racing's biggest days. As a sire, he has nine North American champions, eight Breeders' Cups victories, and 26 Grade I winners. With two GI Preakness Stakes winners, one GI Belmont Stakes winner, and one GI Kentucky Oaks winner, a Kentucky Derby win was the only thing still missing from his lofty list of accomplishments. Check.
A Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa stallion and one of the sport's top sires, Curlin also has a total has 69 graded winners and 118 black-type winners on his CV. His 2026 breeding season was recently cut short due to complications from an ulcer. The farm is giving the big chestnut time to rest and recover, with hopes he is able to return to service in 2027.
Curlin's relationship with daughters of Bernardini has been particularly fruitful, directly responsible for Grade I stars Clairiere, Paris Lights, and now Golden Tempo, in addition to eight other black-type winners (four graded). The late Bernardini, one of the most prolific broodmare sires of recent years, has 138 stakes winners out of his daughters. Bernardini's sire, A.P. Indy, has worked equally well with Curlin, with the match producing champions Malathaat and Nest, as well as Grade I winners Global Campaign and Idol and a slew of other stakes winners. The potent cross with other A.P. Indy- or Seattle Slew-line stallions also includes Curlin's Horse of the Year Cody's Wish and champions Elite Power and Stellar Wind. Interestingly, one of Curlin's graded winners out of a Bernardini mare, Spice Is Nice, produced the 2026 Derby runner-up, Renegade (Into Mischief).
Curlin is also the sire of Connect, whose son Ocelli finished third Saturday. That gives Curlin a remarkable Derby trifecta this year as sire, broodmare sire, and grandsire, respectively, of the top three finishers.
Golden Tempo is a sixth-generation Phipps-bred, tracing all the way back to the 1969 Ogden Phipps private purchase of Lady Pitt (Sword Dancer). The champion 3-year-old filly of 1966, Lady Pitt's best foal for the Phipps was Blitey (Riva Ridge), who produced Grade I winners Dancing Spree (Nijinsky II), Fantastic Find (Mr. Prospector), and Furlough (Easy Goer) in addition to serving as ancestress of a tremendous amount of top horses. Golden Tempo traces through her unraced daughter Oh What a Dance (Nijinsky II), whose runners included champion Heavenly Prize (Seeking the Gold) and GISW Oh What a Windfall (Seeking the Gold).
Phipps Stable has raced most of the family as homebreds, but bred two of Carrumba's five foals–Golden Tempo and the mare's current 2-year-old, a colt by Nyquist–in partnership with St. Elias Stables. The mare's yearling Liam's Map filly was bred solely by Phipps Stable. Carrumba, winner of the 2016 GIII Top Flight Invitational Handicap and placed in seven other graded events including the GI Ogden Phipps Stakes, was barren for 2026 to Good Magic. –Jill Williams
VICTORY FOR GOLDEN TEMPO IN THE 152ND KENTUCKY DERBY! 🐎🌹
📺: The 152nd Kentucky Derby on NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/bWevY504eH
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) May 2, 2026
Saturday, Churchill Downs
KENTUCKY DERBY PRESENTED BY WOODFORD RESERVE-GI, $5,000,000, Churchill Downs, 5-2, 3yo, 1 1/4m, 2:02.27, ft.
1–GOLDEN TEMPO, 126, c, 3, by Curlin
1st Dam: Carrumba (GSW & GISP, $621,500), by Bernardini
2nd Dam: Castanet, by El Prado (Ire)
3rd Dam: Dancinginmydreams, by Seeking the Gold
1ST GRADE I WIN. 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard'. O/B-Phipps Stable & St. Elias Stables, LLC (KY); T-Cherie DeVaux; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $3,100,000. Lifetime Record: 5-3-0-2, $3,433,000. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Renegade, 126, c, 3, Into Mischief–Spice Is Nice, by Curlin.
($975,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). O-Robert & Lawana L. Low and Repole Stable; B-Robert & Lawana Low (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $1,000,000.
3–Ocelli, 126, c, 3, Connect–Zalia, by Scat Daddy. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($12,000 Ylg '24 FTKOCT). O-Ashley Durr, Anthony Tate and Front Page Equestrian, LLC; B-Rosedown Racing Stables, LLC (KY); T-D. Whitworth Beckman. $500,000.
Margins: NK, 3/4, 2. Odds: 23.12, 5.65, 70.50.
Also Ran: Chief Wallabee, Danon Bourbon, Incredibolt, Commandment, Wonder Dean (Jpn), So Happy, Emerging Market, Further Ado, Potente, Six Speed, Robusta, Albus, Intrepido, Litmus Test, Pavlovian. Scratched: Corona de Oro, Fulleffort, Great White, Right to Party, Silent Tactic, The Puma.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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