Golden Tempo, winner of the Kentucky Derby, captured the 158th running of the Belmont Stakes for 3-year-olds on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course in New York, giving trainer Cherie DeVaux her second Triple Crown victory with the same horse in the same year.
DeVaux became the first woman to train two Triple Crown winners — in this case with the same horse in the same year. She already made history as the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner when Golden Tempo crossed the finish first on May 2. The colt skipped the Preakness Stakes.
“Golden Tempo is amazing,” DeVaux said. “It’s so meaningful because the town gets to celebrate along with all of us.”
DeVaux, a Saratoga Springs, N.Y., native, said of the colt, who came from near the back of the pack to win by a length: “He was very much improving.”
Commandment finished second and Renegade was third.
Jockey Jose Ortiz, who rode Golden Tempo, said, “We just want to keep him getting better. He does everything you ask.”
Golden Tempo’s win produced speculation that he could have won the Preakness had he competed.
“It’s not something I want to think about,” DeVaux told Fox’s Tom Rinaldi after the race. “We made our decision, and he won today, and we’re going to be happy about that.”
Golden Tempo was the 13th horse to win the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont while skipping the Preakness. Sovereignty did that last year.