Cherie DeVaux becomes first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby

Trainer Cherie DeVaux has achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first woman to win the Kentucky Derby. Her horse, Golden Tempo, secured victory at Churchill Downs in Louisville, defeating the field by a neck. This result marks a significant moment for the sport, establishing DeVaux as the second woman to train a winner of a Triple Crown race.

The race saw Golden Tempo, a 24-1 longshot, break slowly and trail the eighteen-horse field before executing a late charge from the outside. Jockey Jose Ortiz rode the horse to victory, marking his first win in the event. Renegade, ridden by Ortiz's brother Irad Ortiz Jr, finished second, while the 70-1 longshot Ocelli took third place. The event was attended by a crowd of 150,415 spectators.

DeVaux, a 44-year-old based in Kentucky but originally from Saratoga Springs, New York, earned her training licence in 2018. Prior to this achievement, she had secured over 300 victories. The race featured eighteen runners after two horses were scratched earlier in the week, a reduction from the typical twenty thoroughbreds that usually start the event.

This victory places DeVaux alongside Jena Antonucci as one of only two women to train a winner of a Triple Crown race. She is also the eighteenth woman to saddle a horse in the Derby's 152-year history. The Kentucky Derby serves as the opening leg of the Triple Crown, with the Preakness Stakes scheduled for May 16 and the Belmont Stakes on June 6.

DeVaux credited her husband with inspiring her to pursue training after a career crossroads in 2017. She noted that the opportunity to be a role model for other women and girls was a primary motivation for her historic win. DeVaux, who started her career twenty-two years ago as an exercise rider, expressed that she never believed she would reach this point in her life.