Cherie DeVaux reflects on making Kentucky Derby history as first female trainer to win the race

Cherie DeVaux talks to Fox News Digital about Golden Tempo winning the Kentucky Derby, how everything has been after her historic win. Cherie DeVaux on making history

Cherie DeVaux made history when Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby at the beginning of May, becoming the first female trainer to win the first leg of the Triple Crown.

DeVaux, 44, said that while she never made her gender part of her identity as a horse trainer, it was the one thing she wanted to do as a female.

"It was the one thing as a female I wanted to do just cause I thought it would be – it’s a neat benchmark. There are 151 runnings with all men, and then it’s me," DeVaux told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.

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Cherie DeVaux, trainer of Golden Tempo, celebrates with the trophy in the winner's circle after the 152nd Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 2, 2026. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

"I have never made a stand that my gender was part of my identity as a trainer. I am a horse trainer. We all work really hard, male, female. So it wasn't on the heels of being a female."

For DeVaux, she was happy that the conversation about a female winning the Kentucky Derby could finally move on.

"I actually was getting a bit – I don’t want to say tired in a bad way, but that question kept coming up, and it's like it's time for the conversation to move on from it is how I felt. I quipped in the post-Derby interview, ‘Thank God I don’t have to answer that question anymore,’" DeVaux said.

The Saratoga Springs, New York, native, said that it’s an honor to be someone that people look up to.

"It's an honor. And I hold great respect with the fact that I am somebody now that people,