Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — History was made at the 152nd Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
Golden Tempo, ridden by Jose Ortiz and trained by Cherie DeVaux, won the Kentucky Derby.
DeVaux is just the second female trainer to win any Triple Crown race after Jena Antonucci with Arcangelo in the 2023 Belmont Stakes, according to the Associated Press. She won the Derby in her first opportunity, eight years since starting her own stable.
“I don’t even have any words right now,” DeVaux said. “I just can’t. Just so, so, so happy for Golden Tempo. Jose did a wonderful job, a masterful job of getting him there. He was so far out of it.”
During the week, DeVaux shifted from downplaying what it would mean to be the first woman to train a Derby winner to understanding she’s a role model to girls who might want to follow in her footsteps someday, the AP reported.
She’s just the 18th woman to saddle a horse in the Kentucky Derby.
She started as a stable worker for trainer Chuck Simon at Saratoga and was there for six years before becoming an assistant to trainer Chad Brown, according to Keeneland.
The New York-native then got her trainer’s license in 2018 and won her first race March 29, 2019 at Gulfstream Park with Traveling.
Ortiz showed off the riding prowess that has made him so successful at Churchill Downs in recent days to win the Derby for the first time in his 11th try, according to the AP.
Ortiz also rode the winner of the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, Always a Runner.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.