Cherie DeVaux made history as the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner on May 2, when Golden Tempo authored a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the 152nd Run for the Roses.
DeVaux, 44, watched the race trackside wearing a bright red blazer and with tears in her eyes. She sounded breathless when she was interviewed by NBC and asked what the win meant to her.
“I honestly don’t know, I’m just glad I could be a representative of all women everywhere that we can do anything we set our minds to,” DeVaux said.
DeVaux has a Southwest Florida connection. She attended Florida Gulf Coast University from 2000 to 2002 then went on to University of Albany in New York, according to her LinkedIn profile. On Facebook, she lists her hometown as Englewood, where she graduated from Lemon Bay High School.
A historic win for DeVaux, former FGCU student with Florida connection
Golden Tempo won as a longshot at 23-1 odds. It was the first Kentucky Derby win for jockey Jose Ortiz, who guided Golden Tempo through a furious charge down the backstretch to cross the wire in 2:02.27.
Only 19 starters in Derby history have been trained by women. Before DeVaux, the closest a woman had come to the winner’s circle was Shelley Riley, who finished second with Casual Lies in 1992.
What to know about Derby-winning trainer Cherie DeVaux
DeVaux was born in Saratoga Springs, New York, and raised in a horse racing family. However, she initially pursued a career in medicine and was studying at SUNY Albany before she decided to leave college and return to the racetrack.
DeVaux worked as an assistant trainer for the late Chuck Simon and Chad Brown before she went out on her own in 2018. Speaking to NBC after Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, DeVaux said she was at a “crossroads in life” during the summer of 2017, when her husband, bloodstock agent David Ingordo, encouraged her to keep pursuing her dream.
DeVaux earned her first graded stakes victory with Gam’s Mission in the 2021 Regret Stakes at Churchill Downs and won her first Grade I race in 2023. Her career continued to pick up steam when she trained 2024 Breeders’ Cup Mile winner More Than Looks and multiple graded stakes winner She Feels Pretty.
Eight years after DeVaux started her own stable, she won the Kentucky Derby on her first try with Golden Tempo, who broke out of the gate as an underdog.
When Golden Tempo crossed the finish line a neck in front of Renegade, DeVaux etched her name into the history books. She is just the second female trainer to win a Triple Crown race, joining Jena Antonucci who won the 2023 Belmont Stakes with Arcangelo.
Contributing: Cindy McCurry-Ross, The Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Golden Tempo’s 2026 Kentucky Derby win highlights trainer’s SW Florida connection
Reporting by Danielle Lerner, USA TODAY / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
