LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Cherie DeVaux has frequently said that she doesn’t want her gender to define her as a horse trainer. Whether she likes it or not, history will now always define her as the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby. DeVaux achieved that feat Saturday evening at Churchill Downs when Golden Tempo, under Jose Ortiz, rallied from last in a field of 18 and outfinished Renegade, ridden by Jose’s brother Irad, to win the 152nd Kentucky Derby by a neck. Ocelli, a horse who made it into the race off the also-eligible list on Thursday, was another three-quarters of a length back in third. DeVaux was the 19th female trainer to saddle a horse in the Kentucky Derby, the first being Mary Hirsch in 1937, the most recent one being Vicki Oliver in 2021. Shelley Riley finished second in 1992 with Casual Lies. “Being a woman, or my gender, has never crossed my mind in this journey of mine,” said DeVaux, 44. “The racetrack’s a tough place. It’s a tough place if you’re a man, it’s a tough place if you’re a woman. The thing that has become apparent to me is not everyone has the same constitution as I have mentally. It really is an honor to be able to be that person for other women or other little girls to look up to. You can dream big and you can pivot and come from one place and make yourself a part of history.” DeVaux, whose family is involved mostly in harness horses in upstate New York, said she started working around Thoroughbreds in 2004 as an exercise rider for trainer Chuck Simon, a popular figure in the industry long after he stopped training. Simon died two years ago. DeVaux worked as an assistant trainer for eight years for multiple Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown before going out on her own in 2018. DeVaux went her first 11 months without winning a race. She won the Breeders’ Cup Mile in 2024 with More Than Looks and in 2025 she trained the champion female turf horse, She Feels Pretty. A Kentucky Derby victory trumps it all. “I started my career here 22 years ago as a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed exercise rider, and I would not believe that I would be sitting up here today,” DeVaux said in the interview room. “Never in my life did I think I would.” At the half-mile pole of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, it didn’t seem likely that Golden Tempo was going to be the horse to put DeVaux on a podium. Under Jose Ortiz, Golden Tempo was last of 18, about 14 lengths off a quick pace – Six Speed went six furlongs in 1:10.90. Going into the far turn, Ortiz split horses on Golden Tempo, but it became apparent he was going to have go extremely wide. Danon Bourbon, one of two Japan-based horses in the field, had taken over the lead in upper stretch after attending the pace from the inside. Ortiz had to go seven wide around the far turn to get into contention then was at least 10 wide straightening away for home. Ocelli, ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, and Renegade, who were in the back of the pack, just a few lengths in front of Golden Tempo down the backside, had made their moves before Golden Tempo made his. Ocelli, a maiden who only made it into the Derby field on Thursday when Fulleffort scratched, took over the lead from Danon Bourbon inside the sixteenth pole. But Golden Tempo and Renegade hooked up at the sixteenth pole and ran together, with Golden Tempo, the furthest out, besting Renegade strides before the wire.  Golden Tempo, a son of Curlin owned and bred by the Phipps Stable now headed by Daisy Phipps Pulito and Vinnie and Teresa Viola’s St. Elias Stable, covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:02.27 (95 Beyer Speed Figure). He returned $48.24 to win. “I don’t want to go inside in an [18-horse] field, not good,” Ortiz said. “I felt like I had horse. I was following Irad on Renegade. I felt like we were moving along very nicely. I felt like going outside of him wasn’t going to hurt me. I thought he was the horse to beat. I’m just very happy we won the race.” Ortiz won his first Kentucky Derby with his 11th mount, and he did so the day after he won the Kentucky Oaks on Always a Runner. Ortiz is the ninth jockey to win the Oaks and Derby in the same year. Brian Hernandez Jr. did it just two years ago. The start of the Derby was delayed when Great White was scratched after flipping behind the gate. He was the fifth scratch of the week – not counting Corona de Oro who was scratched as an also-eligible – due to a physical issue. On Saturday morning, The Puma was scratched due to swelling in a leg caused by an infection. Prior days saw Right to Party, Fulleffort, and Silent Tactic also scratch. When Great White was scratched, most of the field had been loaded in the starting gate. Those horses were backed out while the numbers above the stalls were changed. Jose Ortiz said Golden Tempo, who broke from post 16, had not yet been loaded. It’s unclear if horses being loaded and unloaded had any bearing on their performances. “I wasn’t in there yet, so I was very happy,” he said. Golden Tempo’s late charge beat Renegade, who was trying to become the first horse to win the Derby from the rail post in 40 years. Renegade was bumped repeatedly by horses from just outside of him, a chain reaction that saw Litmus Test come in on Intrepido and Albus. It was an emotional Irad Ortiz Jr. who came back after the race, greeted by hugs from Mike Repole, part-owner of Renegade, and then his wife and children. “I was ready for something like that, so [went to] Plan B right away, let him settle no matter where I am and try to finish, which he did,” Irad Ortiz Jr. said. “I’m proud of him. He just got caught in the last couple of jumps.” Irad Ortiz Jr., 33, said he was proud of his younger brother for winning his first Derby, even though it came at his expense. “If I’m going to get beat in race like this, I wish it would be my brother,” Irad Ortiz Jr. said. “I’m happy for him. He deserves it.” Todd Pletcher, trainer of Renegade, who watched the race on a big-screen television from the paddock, was torn between the heartbreak of losing the Derby by a neck and seeing his horse overcome so much to run as well as he did. “Hate to lose, but the horse ran terrific, did everything he could, just didn’t quite get there,” Pletcher said. “I thought he found a good spot in the first turn where he was by himself a little bit, he didn’t have anybody dogging him. Thought all in all he got kind of the trip we were expecting. We were hoping for a good pace, let him run his race, and he did.” Ocelli, a maiden after six runs, including a third-place finish in the Wood Memorial, almost pulled an upset reminiscent of Rich Strike from 2022. While he drew into the field a day earlier than Rich Strike did that year, he was seemingly on his way to shocking the world as the longest shot on the board. “It’s funny, when you actually see him coming down the lane, you see a horse moving so well passing horses thinking that you’re getting there, getting there, there’s no thought, I just went blank for a minute,” said Whit Beckman, trainer of Ocelli. “Then the reality set in towards the end, we’re in probably the toughest horse race in the world. I couldn’t be more happy how the horse performed. Brought a maiden to the Derby, he ran exceptionally well and finished third against some top-class horses.” Ocelli finished two lengths in front of Chief Wallabee, who got fourth by a head over Danon Bourbon. Incredibolt finished sixth and was followed in the order of finish by Commandment, Wonder Dean, So Happy, Emerging Market, 5-1 favorite Further Ado, Potente, Six Speed, Robusta, Albus, Intrepido, Litmus Test, and Pavlovian. Beckman worked with DeVaux when both were employees of Brown in New York. “I couldn’t be happier for Cherie. I know what it takes. I worked with her for a long time,” Beckman said. “I can remember her at the [Saratoga] harness track when I was working for Todd and she had just started for Chad, for all of us to come up as a young trainer to get the opportunity with these horses and to put them in the spots and win, it’s a dream man.” For women who want to perhaps some day get into training, DeVaux showed them Saturday they can dream big. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.