Saratogians Make History at Kentucky Derby

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A Saratoga Springs native became the first female trainer in history to win the Kentucky Derby last Saturday.

Cherie DeVaux, who was born in the Spa City and spent two years studying at the University at Albany, once worked as an assistant to trainer Chad Brown, another Saratoga County native who won his first Kentucky Oaks the day before the Derby.

All told, it was a spectacular showing for Saratoga.

“My gender has never really crossed my mind in this journey of mine,” DeVaux told the New York Times after her historic Derby win. “The race track is 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 really has become apparent to me,” DeVaux continued, “is that 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 or you can pivot. You can come from one place, and you can make yourself a part of history.”

DeVaux’s horse Golden Tempo, ridden by jockey Jose Ortiz, shocked the racing world after entering the contest with 23-1 odds. Tempo was literally at the back of the pack before sliding in-between two foes, navigating around another, and then rocketing along the outside to narrowly defeat frontrunner Renegade, ridden by Jose’s brother Irad Ortiz Jr. 

The Ortiz brothers are regulars at the Saratoga Race Course and, in 2024, even made an appearance at the remodeled Dunkin’ on West Avenue.

Derby champ Golden Tempo has more Saratoga connections beyond DeVaux. The Thoroughbred’s co-owners and co-breeders, the Phipps family, purchased a home on North Broadway in 1967. Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps, a prominent figure in horse racing, was inducted into the track’s Saratoga Walk of Fame alongside Marylou Whitney in 2015.

Mechanicville native Chad Brown’s horse Emerging Market didn’t win the Derby, but his filly Always a Runner, piloted by Jose Ortiz, was victorious in the Kentucky Oaks.

“This filly is very resilient, very tough,” Brown told ESPN after winning the Oaks. “She didn’t have to be here today. She didn’t have to run again. She could have never run, easily. I’ve had it happen with several horses. The fact that not only did she overcome it and ended up here today as an undefeated horse in the Oaks is just remarkable.”

According to the Daily Racing Form, Always a Runner is headed to Saratoga, where she’s expected to target the major Grade I races for three-year-old fillies this summer.

On Wednesday afternoon, DeVaux said in a statement that Golden Tempo would bypass the Preakness Stakes and point toward the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga. 

Kentucky Derby runner-up Renegade arrived in Saratoga on Wednesday morning.