LEXINGTON, Ky. (WDRB) — Trainer Cherie DeVaux arrived at her Keeneland barn Tuesday morning looking like someone who had just won the Kentucky Derby.
Not in the way you might expect. No champagne haze, no lingering disbelief, no slow exhale after the biggest moment of her life.
"I honestly haven't had a moment to myself to really absorb it," she said, standing outside the barn of her Kentucky Derby winner, Golden Tempo.
The roses are still fresh. The new blanket reads "Kentucky Derby 152 Winner." The texts — all 800+ of them — have finally been processed.
But the moment itself? Still somewhere out there, waiting to be caught.
Yes, a decision on the Preakness is looming.
Trainer Cherie DeVaux with Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo outside his Keeneland barn on May 5, 2026.
No, DeVaux has not decided whether Golden Tempo will run back in the second leg of the Triple Crown. She expects to make a call toward the end of the week.
"We're going to look and see how much energy he has when he's on track, see how he's moving, see his attitude," she said.
No grand declarations. No Triple Crown fever. Just the same process that got her here. She knows fans want to see the colt in the Preakness. She knows the sport benefits from a Triple Crown chase. She can't let those things enter her mind.
"Other people's opinions are not part of the conversation," she said. "I appreciate that there is history with the Triple Crown. I appreciate that everyone's excited about it; however, the horse comes first."
It's almost defiant in its simplicity.
Being the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner has come with an enhanced set of obligations. NBC sent her to New York on Sunday for the Today Show. She did the Wake Up Barstool show with Dave Portnoy. She got back late Monday night. She's sleeping about four hours a night. Still, she has missed only one set of training and sounded proud that it was only one.
Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo with trainer Cherie DeVaux and groom Jose Hernandez outside his Keeneland barn on May 5, 2026.
"Being a horse trainer is my first obligation," she said. "That's my life's passion and my life's work. Everything else is secondary."
Right now, DeVaux is fitting the Derby victory into her life, not the other way around.
Golden Tempo, for his part, seems blissfully unaware of any of it.
Groom Jose Hernandez brought him out of the barn for reporters. He stood for photos, insisted on holding his lead in his mouth. He's ready to get back on the track, DeVaux can tell. He'll jog Wednesday and again Thursday before a Friday gallop. Same routine. Same post-race rhythm. And how he responds will determine his path forward.
"We had a plan with Golden Tempo," she said. "We understood that he wasn't a 'right now' horse in the Derby preps, but we wanted him peaking in the Derby on Saturday, and that's how we tailored his training. You've just got to trust in the process and always put the horse first."
That process — patient, deliberate, stubbornly horse-first — is what won her the biggest race in the world. It's also what might keep her from chasing the next one too quickly. It also might mean the colt is ready to run again more quickly than others who trained for the Derby. Should Golden Tempo go in the Preakness, jockey Jose Ortiz is committed to ride him.
In the middle of all this, DeVaux was asked how many times she'd watched the race, or the full broadcast, back.
"Not as much as one would think," she said.
Because there hasn't been time. Or space. The Derby, for all its history and spectacle, doesn't come with a pause button.
That will come later. Maybe tonight, maybe next week, maybe sometime when the barn is quiet and the phones finally stop buzzing. That's when it will land. That's when Cherie DeVaux will finally get to think about her moment with the Kentucky Derby.
For now, she has a horse to watch. And a decision to make.
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