Golden Tempo shocks Kentucky Derby field, Cherie DeVaux makes history

Golden Tempo broke through the noise of the betting board and the bloodlines ledger on Saturday, storming past 17 rivals to win the 152nd Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and deliver one of the race’s defining long-shot shocks in years.

The 30-1 colt covered the 1 1/4 miles in Louisville, Kentucky, in front of an estimated crowd of more than 150,000 and earned the winner’s share of the record $5 million purse, $3.1 million. The victory also gave trainer Cherie DeVaux a place in Derby history as the first female trainer to win the race. Jose Ortiz rode Golden Tempo for owners Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable.

The Derby had been slated for 20 starters, but the field was reduced to 18 after two late scratches. Great White was removed after entering the starting gate and bucking up before flipping over, while The Puma was scratched less than 12 hours before post time because of a swollen leg tied to a skin infection. Even with the reduced field, the race still delivered the kind of volatility that has long made the Derby the most unpredictable stop in American racing.

Golden Tempo entered with only four career starts, an unusually light résumé for a horse asked to handle the pressure of the Derby. He had won a maiden race on Dec. 20, 2025, then added the Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 17, 2026, before finishing third in both the Risen Star Stakes and the Louisiana Derby. That sequence pointed to steady improvement, but not to the sort of finish that would stun a field of established contenders at Churchill Downs.

His pedigree fit the modern sport’s deep dependence on breeding economics and statistical projection. Golden Tempo is by Curlin, a sire who had produced Derby runners-up but had never before sired a Derby winner. That made the colt’s breakthrough even more striking in a game where bloodlines, speed figures and wagering markets often narrow attention to a small circle of expected winners.

The Derby remains the first leg of the Triple Crown, and the last horse to sweep all three races was Justify in 2018. Golden Tempo’s upset reaffirmed why the Kentucky Derby still commands such attention: even in a sport increasingly shaped by data and dollars, one race can still reward the outsider, reshape the story of the season and remind fans that unpredictability is part of the spectacle.