Cherie DeVaux will be at Saratoga Race Course this week as Golden Tempo, the 23-1 long shot she trains, runs in the 158th Belmont Stakes — five weeks after the horse’s upset Kentucky Derby victory.
The timeline is stark: Golden Tempo crossed the wire in the Derby on May 2 at those unlikely odds, and now DeVaux returns to her birthplace with a classic winner in tow just weeks later. The Belmont is staged at Saratoga for the third and final time before it moves back to Belmont Park next year, and that scheduling has amplified local interest.
“Having a local connection always just amps up everything around here and the interest level,” Todd Shimkus, president of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, said, adding that “Cherie, this year, is the rock star coming back to Saratoga, where she’s got family and friends and a community that has totally embraced the historic success she’s had.” DeVaux was born in Saratoga Springs and returned to study at the University at Albany before leaving college after two years to pursue racing — first as a hot walker for the late trainer Chuck Simon and later as an assistant to Chad Brown. She opened her own stable in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2018 and has since scored major wins with horses including She Feels Pretty and Vahva.
DeVaux’s Derby triumph made her the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner, a milestone that has followed her to Saratoga. She resists making that history the story. “I just see myself as a horse trainer,” she said, and added, “I thought winning the Kentucky Derby was an achievable goal at some point in my career. It’s an honor to be the one that is the first female. But that’s not really what my focus is on.” She has also said she’s looking forward to sharing the week with family: “It’s an amazing opportunity to get to spend with my family in the build-up and the week of,” she said, and specifically noted nieces and nephews who “don’t get to come to the races.”
The immediate question for bettors and fans is simple: can Golden Tempo follow up the Derby with a Belmont victory on a different surface and a different track configuration? The Belmont being run at Saratoga changes some of the expected dynamics compared with Belmont Park, and DeVaux’s return to her hometown adds an unusual local flavor to a race regularly dominated by national storylines. The recent precedent of a woman trainer taking the Belmont — Jena Antonucci with Arcangelo in 2023 — has reduced the novelty but not the scrutiny.
For DeVaux, the week is as much personal as professional. She has downplayed celebrity while acknowledging the surreal quality of sudden fame — “I don’t really think I’m that big of a deal, so it’s been very surreal” — even recounting a moment when a television host wanted a photo with her. She has been embraced by the Saratoga community, Shimkus said, and has been explicit about what she wants the trip to be: a chance to be around family and to let young relatives see the sport up close. “Getting to spend time with my family, the young ones that don’t get to come to the races — my nieces and nephews — so I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to share what I do with them,” she said.
The practical test arrives on the racetrack. Golden Tempo arrives off a peak performance that handed DeVaux a place in the record books; what remains unresolved is whether five weeks is enough time to maintain that peak against Belmont rivals in a setting that is as much a hometown stage as a national classic. If Golden Tempo runs true to form, DeVaux’s Saratoga return will feel like confirmation; if not, the week will be remembered for its proximity to a rare upswing in a trainer’s career, not its sequel. Either way, the answer will come on the day of the 158th Belmont Stakes.
