First Kentucky Derby female trainer to win tells riveting origin story

Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Cherie DeVaux grew up around horses, but she initially pursued an unrelated career track.

DeVaux shared her origin story on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday, May 5, three days after her horse, Golden Tempo, won the “Run for the Roses.”

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“It’s kind of a funny story,” the 44-year-old DeVaux said. “I went to school for premed, mainly because I wanted a job that I could afford horses in my life.”

While paying her way through college at SUNY Albany, the Saratoga, New York, native took a part-time job at a stable. That’s when her training career took flight.

“I needed a summer job, and she [her mother] said, ‘Well, there’s this job; you just walk the horses. You can be done by 10.’ I was like, ‘That’s good. I can wake up early, be done,’ and I started as a hot walker, just by happenstance of where my life led me,” DeVaux said.

McAfee loved the story: “Yeah, gonna have to become a brain surgeon to afford these damn horses.”

An independent trainer

Golden Tempo, a 23-1 long shot, stormed from the back of the pack and held off favorite Renegade to win the 152nd Kentucky Derby.

DeVaux, who runs an independent stable, trained Golden Tempo for Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable, the latter owned by Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola.

Growing up, DeVaux’s family was involved in harness racing, not thoroughbred racing. But DeVaux began working with trainer Chuck Simon, who made her an assistant trainer. He passed away in 2024.

“I was a wild child,” DeVaux said, per The Athletic. “Chuck saw I was going the wrong way, and he took me under his wing and made me be an assistant trainer begrudgingly because I was really enjoying the party life. He kind of wrangled me in. … I didn’t want to be a horse trainer. It just kind of evolved into that.”