Few horse trainers know Saratoga like Cherie DeVaux; after all, she was born there. She left for Florida but eventually returned to study nearby, then dropped out to walk hots and chase a life in racing instead. Nobody handed her a shortcut, and for years, few outside the barn knew her name. One Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes win later, that has permanently changed.

It’s a change that DeVaux didn’t quite expect, especially going into the Kentucky Derby. Her post-Derby plan was to hope that life would become normal and that she could find time for the gym again. Then she made history, and now, on the back of repeating that feat at Belmont, DeVaux opened up on it all.

“Oh, it’s been a complete 180 from my normal life,” DeVaux told Fox and Friends. “And I joked before the Derby, as soon as I got out into the barn before the walk over, that I couldn’t wait to get back to my normal life.

“And that is definitely different now. But been really busy. Got to talk with a lot of great people. But, you know, it’s always fun to share our sport with others that might not be introduced to it otherwise.”

After making history at the 158th running of the Belmont Stakes in a debut win, there’s little chance of that changing. She became the first female horse trainer to win two Triple Crown races. What’s impressive here, though, is that DeVaux’s horse made a comeback to win $1.2 million in prize money of the $2 million purse.

In the 2026 Kentucky Derby in May, Golden Tempo was dead last going into the first turn. By the final stretch, he and jockey Jose Ortiz had surged ahead to produce a historic win. It’s why DeVaux was not that surprised at Golden Tempo’s performance at Saratoga. 

The odds, for one, weren’t on her side going into the race, and that’s despite being the Derby winner. However, they were among the top three contenders. That’s as per the bookies, as they gave Renegade (2-1) and Chief Wallabee (3-1) the best odds going into the race. Golden Tempo (9-2) did have better odds than his 23-1 from the Derby, but it was an uphill climb. That showed in the race as DeVaux’s star started from post No. 9.

However, like the Kentucky Derby, Golden Tempo strayed at the back of the pack going into the first turn. It almost replicated his performance at Churchill Downs, as Ortiz stayed there for most of the race. It’s only towards the half-mile pole that they picked up the pace and started a surge down the outside.

Golden Tempo won, with Commandment second and Renegade third. The race favorite was leading the pack for a bit but fell off the pace, leaving it to the other two. Ortiz and Golden Tempo had timed things to perfection as they surged beyond Brad Cox’s horse to win by a length. That was something DeVaux touched upon in the interview, even if she believed that things were closer this time around.

“Yeah,” DeVaux explained when asked whether Golden Tempo likes running from the back. “Most definitely. He did actually break and was with the field a lot closer than in his past races, but he was gonna be wide. And so Jose, I think, went to what he knew was best, and that was just let him settle at the back of the pack and make a run.”

Interestingly, this is the second time that the Belmont Stakes has seen a rising winner. Last year, Sovereignty won both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes. But the question now arises is whether Golden Tempo could have swept the Triple Crown if only he had not missed the Preakness?

While his trainers and jockey have a clear understanding of how Golden Tempo runs, a late-closing strategy only works if the jockey trusts the horse and the timing. For José Ortiz, that meant resisting the temptation to move too early and leaning on the patience that had already delivered a win.

José Ortiz reflects on Golden Tempo’s 2026 Belmont Stakes win

The 2026 Kentucky Derby turned out to be a marvellous race for those who love the underdog. After all, it’s not every day that a 23-1 outsider goes on to make history. There is precedent for it as Charismatic (1999), Thunder Gulch (1995), Giacomo (2005), Mine that Bird (2009), and more did it. Yet, a 23-1 outsider combined with a female trainer while coming back from being dead last going into the final turn had almost impossible odds, and somehow Golden Tempo managed it.

That was partly because jockey Jose Ortiz knows what kind of horse he is: a “lazy” one. Considering that Saturday night was Ortiz’s third Belmont Stakes title, having won Mo Donegal (2022) and Creator (2016) to win three of the last eleven, and he’s continuing to have success with Golden Tempo this year, it wouldn’t be wrong to agree with him. It’s why he tailored his Derby plan to that, and it’s what he did at the 2026 Belmont Stakes.

“The main thing with (Golden Tempo) is his mind,” Ortiz said as per The Athletic. “You can see him — he’s very relaxed; he does what I ask him to do. I think that’s the main thing: He’s growing mentally as well, and physically.”

It’s why Ortiz decided to follow Renegade because of the way his brother, Irad Ortiz, Jr, rides him.  

“I was following Renegade again, which is always a good target,” Ortiz explained. “The horse (makes) his move out on the half-mile going into the quarter pole, and, you know, Commandment was there as well. People (were) right, (Golden Tempo) wasn’t going to get (the same) setup as he did at the Derby. We all knew that, and I was a little worried about it.

“He needs some kind of setup, but today there wasn’t none, and he showed up today and won, so that (makes) him very dangerous down the road for his rivals.”

For DeVaux, the biggest adjustment may not be the interviews or the attention. It’s more the reality that Golden Tempo has turned her once-familiar routine into something entirely different. And if Ortiz is right about the Colt becoming even more dangerous without needing the perfect race setup, that new normal may be sticking around for quite a while.