DeVaux sees Golden Tempo still rising after Derby upset

Golden Tempo has done more than survive the jump from upset winner to target horse. Four weeks and three works after the Kentucky Derby, Cherie DeVaux says the Curlin colt is carrying himself with the same confidence she saw before Louisville, and that is the clearest sign he has not stopped improving.

The real story is not the Derby alone, but what came before it. Golden Tempo was not the horse most people were circling when he ran third in both the Risen Star and the Louisiana Derby. Those finishes made him look like a useful graded stakes runner, not a classic-winning threat. DeVaux saw something different in the colt’s demeanor, a forward-moving attitude that suggested he was peaking at the right moment even when the public read his form more cautiously.

That gap between the outside view and the barn’s view is what gives the story its weight. A horse who runs third twice and then upsets the Kentucky Derby forces everyone to revisit the evidence, and DeVaux’s read is that the Derby did not create Golden Tempo’s talent. It revealed it. In her view, the colt was already heading in the right direction before Louisville, and the win only confirmed the trajectory.

What matters now is whether the Derby was the ceiling or the beginning. DeVaux’s answer leans toward the latter. She points to the colt’s recent work pattern and sharp attitude as proof that he remains on an upward path rather than settling into the aftermath of a big race. For a horse coming off a career-making score, that kind of mental freshness matters as much as any stopwatch figure, because it tells the barn the colt is still engaged and still learning.

The practical details reinforce that picture. Golden Tempo breezed Saturday and shipped Sunday from Kentucky to upstate New York, a tight schedule that suggests a horse being handled like a serious player for a major target. The sequence is important: he worked, then traveled, and did so without the kind of hesitation or regression that often follows a taxing breakthrough win. In a campaign like this, smooth transitions are as revealing as flashy workouts.

That is why Belmont now reads less like a reward and more like a test of staying power. TDN frames the race as the third and final jewel at Saratoga, which adds another layer to Golden Tempo’s profile. He is not just trying to defend a Derby upset on a bigger stage. He is entering a race that can define whether his spring is remembered as a single surprise or the start of a legitimate top-tier run.

Belmont’s demands tend to expose horses that have only flashed one good day. DeVaux’s confidence suggests Golden Tempo is not in that category. The trainer’s focus on his confidence, his attitude, and his continued forward motion all point to a colt who is handling the pressure of expectation better than many horses do after a signature win. That makes him more than an interesting name in the field. It makes him a horse with a live chance to keep climbing when the competition tightens again.

The key to reading Golden Tempo is understanding what DeVaux is really measuring. She is not just looking for speed figures or finishing positions. She is tracking how the colt carries himself in the mornings, how he responds after the Derby, and whether the energy she saw before Louisville is still there. On that score, the signals are positive: three works, a Saturday breeze, a Sunday ship, and the same sharp presence that convinced her he was improving before the Derby upset.

For horsemen, that kind of continuity is what separates a one-race story from a lasting campaign. A horse that stays mentally forward after a breakthrough is often the one that keeps moving up when the races get tougher. That is the bet DeVaux appears to be making on Golden Tempo, and it is what makes him a legitimate Belmont player rather than a Derby headline still looking for an echo.

If the colt handles Saratoga the way he handled Louisville, the Derby will look less like an anomaly and more like the point where the barn’s private confidence became public fact. That is the real payoff here: Golden Tempo is not being treated like a horse who already had his moment. He is being managed like one who may still be rising into his best race.