SouthernWorldwide.com – Cherie DeVaux etched her name in racing history when Golden Tempo secured a victory at the Kentucky Derby in early May, marking a monumental achievement as the first female trainer to win the prestigious first leg of the Triple Crown.
DeVaux, 44, shared that while she has never emphasized her gender as a defining characteristic of her career as a horse trainer, this particular accomplishment held a special significance for her as a woman in the sport.
“I have never made a stand that my gender was part of my identity as a trainer. I am a horse trainer. We all work really hard, male, female. So it wasn’t on the heels of being a female,” she stated.
For DeVaux, the victory represented a turning point, allowing the conversation about a woman winning the Kentucky Derby to finally move forward.
“I actually was getting a bit – I don’t want to say tired in a bad way, but that question kept coming up, and it’s like it’s time for the conversation to move on from it is how I felt. I quipped in the post-Derby interview, ‘Thank God I don’t have to answer that question anymore,’” DeVaux revealed.
The native of Saratoga Springs, New York, expressed that it is an honor to be a role model for others.
“It’s an honor. And I hold great respect with the fact that I am somebody now that people, women, men, people look up to. That’s something that I don’t lose sight of, and I’m just out doing my thing, and if that can inspire somebody else, it’s a bonus on top,” DeVaux said.
“I’ve always felt like we need to be doing – we train horses, but we can reach the community, or others, just by doing what we’re doing and conducting yourself, holding yourself accountable and to a higher standard.”
About a week and a half after her historic Kentucky Derby win, DeVaux indicated that things are beginning to settle down.
“It’s been overwhelming in a really amazing way,” DeVaux commented. “Been busy, doing a lot more extracurriculars other than running our stable, which I keep joking that when a league wins a championship, they go to Disney World, and we continue to have a lot of horses to train. So, things are starting to quiet down a little bit and getting back to the enjoyment of working with our horses and training the rest of the stable.”
Entering the Kentucky Derby, Golden Tempo was a long shot at 23-1 odds. DeVaux admitted that while she had confidence in Golden Tempo, she maintained realistic expectations.
“I felt that Golden Tempo was going to run a really good race. We targeted the race. We had a plan with him. He checked all the boxes. He got to the race in great order, but realistically, it’s the derby. And it’s our first trip to the derby, and there’s a lot of horses in it. It’s not a very good chance you’re going to win, right?” DeVaux explained.
“So, just realistic expectations that I put on the whole situation was let’s have fun. Hopefully, Golden Tempo runs a really good race. He comes with a run and we’re going to be happy with that.”
Golden Tempo’s racing style is characterized as a “deep closer,” meaning he tends to make a late surge from the back of the pack. DeVaux mentioned their attempts to use blinkers to encourage a faster start, but it proved to be contrary to his natural racing rhythm.
True to his style, Golden Tempo made a dramatic late charge from the rear of the field to take the lead in the Kentucky Derby. DeVaux focused on ensuring he didn’t fall too far behind early in the race.
“Most of the race, I was just keeping an eye on him, seeing how the race is unfolding in front of him. And there was a fast pace and a lot of those horses have not shown the propensity to want to go a mile and a quarter. Golden Tempo came closing at a mile and 3/16 in the Louisiana Derby. So, we were very confident in his ability to handle that distance,” DeVaux recounted.
“When I picked him up, I had a feeling that he was going to make a really good run and have a good showing of himself, but had given himself so much to do. So, as he’s picking them off, and he’s coming, and he’s coming and then when he got to Renegade is when it was like, ‘Oh my goodness, this might be happening’ to he got his head in front, and you know, the rest is history as they say.”
“I blacked out the last part of it when he won because I just couldn’t believe that he won the race. Like it was just disbelief of I can’t believe that really just happened.”
Amidst the post-victory jubilation, DeVaux admitted that she hasn’t had the opportunity to fully reflect on the magnitude of her achievement, though she has taken moments to contemplate her journey.
“In brief moments, I find myself thinking about things that have happened in my life where I questioned my path, and it’s not just the path to me being a trainer. I was talking about something that happened in my late 20s with a relationship that went really badly, and I was telling my assistant actually about it. I thought if I could survive that, I can survive anything,” DeVaux shared.
“I’ve had these moments along the way that I could have been discouraged, I could have left, and instead I just had the fortitude to push forward.”
This unwavering determination has indirectly led to her Instagram inbox being inundated with congratulatory messages.
“There have been a lot and still muddling through the inbox,” DeVaux said. “I didn’t realize how many messages you can really get on Instagram. Flavor Flav is the one that was jarring to me a little bit when he saw I was in New York, like ‘hey we have an event’ which my little ’90s child in me was thinking that was pretty cool.”
DeVaux confessed that she never envisioned reaching this point in her career.
“I’ve been overwhelmed really with like the reaction videos of just Golden Tempo running, my reaction being a woman and you know that’s just something I never would have thought would have touched anybody,” DeVaux said.
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“I’m just doing my thing, cheering my horse on.”
