SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Golden Tempo not only validated his Kentucky Derby victory by winning Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, he took complete control of the 3-year-old division heading into the second half of the year. Like Sovereignty a year ago, Golden Tempo won two-thirds of the Triple Crown but did not participate in the middle leg, the Preakness. Sovereignty came back in the summer to win the Jim Dandy and Travers at Saratoga before an illness prevented him from running against older horses in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Still, Sovereignty was not only voted 3-year-old champion, he claimed Horse of the Year. Starting with Little Current in 1974, and not including Triple Crown winners, 22 of the last 23 horses who won two legs of the Triple Crown were voted champion 3-year-old male. In 1994, Holy Bull was voted champion 3-year-old over dual classic winner Tabasco Cat. “Right now, he’s the top but we’re still fairly early in the 3-year-old” season, said Cherie DeVaux, trainer of Golden Tempo. “A lot of them have a lot of maturing to do, there are a lot of horses that are exciting. We’re right at the halfway mark of the year, but there’s a lot that can still happen.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. In addition to his Derby and Belmont victories, Golden Tempo won the Grade 3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds to kick off his campaign. With only six career starts under him, Golden Tempo is still improving, DeVaux said. “The biggest is physically, he’s really come a long way,” DeVaux said. “Going into the Derby, he was still carrying a good amount of condition. He’s finally tightened up and looks like a fit racehorse and that’s going to be something we’re going to have to try and maintain going into the Jim Dandy.” DeVaux said Sunday that Golden Tempo will make his next two starts in Saratoga – the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on Aug. 1 and the Grade 1 Travers on Aug. 29. Over the next seven weeks, Golden Tempo will train at Keeneland, where he has been based since late March. Following the Jim Dandy, Golden Tempo will train in Saratoga leading up to the Travers. With the race eight weeks away, it remains to be seen who will take Golden Tempo on in the Jim Dandy. Trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday that Renegade – the Kentucky Derby runner-up, Belmont third-place finisher, and Grade 1 Arkansas Derby winner – would be considered for the Jim Dandy. Trainer Brad Cox said he wants to evaluate Commandment, the Grade 1 Florida Derby winner and Belmont runner-up, before committing to his next start. Chief Wallabee, fourth in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, is still eligible for a first-level allowance race or the July 29 Curlin, a 1 1/8-mile stakes for 3-year-olds who have not won a graded sweepstakes this year. Two weeks before the Jim Dandy, on July 18 at Monmouth Park, there is the $1 million Haskell Stakes. Napoleon Solo, who won the Preakness after finishing fifth in the Fountain of Youth and Wood Memorial, is targeting that race. “We’re running in the Haskell on July 18 and we’re more than happy for Golden Tempo to join us there,” said Chad Summers, trainer of Napoleon Solo. “He hasn’t beaten us yet, so hopefully we’ll go head and head.” The Travers on Aug. 29 could be a spot for the two horses to meet. Summers said that his options following the Haskell are the Travers or Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 19. “With the races being three weeks apart you can’t run in both, so we’ll see where everything goes,” Summers said. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports Others who have been mentioned for the Haskell are Further Ado, the beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby who won Sunday’s Grade 3 Matt Winn at Churchill Downs; Preakness runner-up Iron Honor; Pat Day Mile winner and Woody Stephens runner-up Crude Velocity; and Tampa Bay Derby winner The Puma, who was scratched from the Derby due to an injury. The Preakness third- through fifth-place finishers Chip Honcho, Oceilli, and Incredibolt have been mentioned as possible starters for the Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby on June 20 at Thistledown. Ironically, the second-best 3-year-old in the country may be the DeVaux-trained Englishman, who dominated Saturday’s Grade 1 Woody Stephens by 5 3/4 lengths, earning a whopping 115 Beyer Speed Figure. He’s a sprinter, and while he’ll be traveling back and forth from Kentucky to New York with Golden Tempo, they’ll be running in different races. Englishman is targeting the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens on Aug. 29 on his way to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.