Golden Tempo’s big day came with an extra bit of history.

The horse, which rallied from all the way from last place to win the 2026 Kentucky Derby, made Cherie DeVaux the first woman trainer to win the Run for the Roses.

“I’m glad I can be a representative of all women everywhere,” DeVaux said after the race, “that we can do anything we set our minds to.”

With 23-1 odds at post time, Golden Tempo was far from the favorite to win it all, but using a furious rally down the stretch, the horse held off Mike Repole-owned Renegade, which came in at 5-1 odds.

DeVaux became just the second woman to ever win a Triple Crown race.

Jena Antonucci was the first when she won with Arcangelo at the 2023 Belmont Stakes.

Golden Tempo paid $48.24 to win, $19.14 to place and $11.90 to show. Renegade paid $7.14 to place and $5.46 to show. Ocelli — who didn’t get into the field until Thursday when Brad Cox’s Fulleffort was ruled out — paid $36.34 to show.

Nearly a dozen members of DeVaux’s family piled into a big white van, driving all the way from New York to Louisville to watch Golden Tempo run in the Kentucky Derby. Stories were told, shenanigans ensued and only one topic was off limits during the 14-hour drive.

“No one was allowed to say we’re going to win because I’m superstitious,” sister Adrianne DeVaux said. “No one’s allowed to say that. Since I was a little kid watching races, we’re not allowed to say we’re going to win.

“They’re probably not going to sleep,” Cherie said of her family at the celebratory postrace news conference, knowing they have another long ride to tackle Sunday. “I don’t know if there’s enough Red Bull or energy drinks in the world for them, but they’re probably riding high.”

Coming into the race, only 17 other women had ever owned horses that ran in the Kentucky Derby.

Now, after Saturday’s thriller at Churchill Downs, DeVaux can claim to be the first champion.

“It would be irresponsible of me to not acknowledge that what I’m doing does inadvertently make a difference, even if it’s not my intent,” DeVaux said earlier in the week. “My brothers are a lot bigger than me, so I think that’s what shaped me.

“I’ve had to fight and scrap and be heard so that I could survive growing up. And I understand that’s not the same for everybody.”

If Golden Tempo runs in the Preakness on May 16, DeVaux will have the chance to become the first to win that leg of the Triple Crown, too.

DeVaux said the decision would be made in the coming days depending on how the horse is.

“We’re going to let him decide that,” DeVaux said. “We’re going to have to allow him to tell us because the horse is first.”

— with AP