Golden Tempo goes from last to first in 152nd Kentucky Derby

History was made on the first Saturday in May when Golden Tempo stormed down the Churchill Downs homestretch to win the $5 million Kentucky Derby (G1).

An on-track crowd of 150,415 braved the chilliest Derby Day temperatures since 1989 to witness the 152nd edition of the Run for the Roses. They were treated to a thrilling finish as the lead changed repeatedly in the final furlong of the 1 1/4-mile classic, with Golden Tempo reaching the wire first by a neck.

Owned and bred by the partnership of Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable, Golden Tempo is conditioned by Cherie DeVaux, the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner.

“Training Golden Tempo has really been a treat,” said DeVaux. “There's not a lot of times when a colt that is as big as he is, is as pleasurable as he is. I mean, he is such a consummate professional. He's got a wonderful personality. So really, he allowed us to train him, and he responded to what we asked him to do throughout each process. He improved each race. We trained him a bit hard in between, and he showed up for us every time. He's done everything we've asked of him, and obviously, winning the Kentucky Derby.”

Prior to DeVaux, the best finish by a female trainer in the Kentucky Derby belonged to Shelley Riley, who saddled Casual Lies to a runner-up finish in 1992.

Golden Tempo’s triumph also marked a milestone for jockey Jose Ortiz, who secured his first Kentucky Derby win from 11 mounts. On Friday, Ortiz guided Always a Runner to victory in the 152nd Kentucky Oaks (G1), so Saturday’s triumph made Ortiz only the ninth jockey to sweep the Oaks and Derby in the same year.

“It feels great. Unbelievable weekend,” said Ortiz. “It's the result of all the hard work I put in for the last 15 years. I'm just very happy I get to win this race. And I'm very happy for Vinnie [Viola], Teresa [Viola], Cherie [DeVaux], Daisy [Phipps], Danny [Sparkman], all the team back in the barn. They work so hard with these horses. It takes a lot of people to win a race like this. I just want to be thankful. I feel blessed to be here. I'm just very thankful to all of them.”

The Phipps family has been involved in breeding and racing horses for decades. Phipps Stable co-owned Orb, winner of the 2013 Kentucky Derby.

“This is everything to anybody in horse racing, really,” said Daisy Phipps Pulito. “This is what we breed to race. This is why you do it, to be on stages like this. And the way he ran and the way he was raised at Claiborne Farm.

“There's just so many people to thank in this: Claiborne; Barry Eisaman, who broke him; Jose, his groom; Enrique who is his exercise rider. Obviously, Cherie who runs that team. It's just been an unbelievable group effort. He's been a pleasure to be around. It's been a really fun campaign.”

Bettors viewed the 2026 Kentucky Derby as one of the most wide-open in recent memory. At various times on Saturday, four different horses ranked as the favorite: Florida Derby (G1) winner Commandment, Arkansas Derby (G1) hero Renegade, Santa Anita Derby (G1) conqueror So Happy, and runaway Blue Grass (G1) winner Further Ado. The latter ultimately settled as the 5.05-1 favorite when the betting closed.

In contrast, Golden Tempo was overlooked at 23.12-1 following third-place finishes in the Risen Star (G2) and Louisiana Derby (G2). But the stoutly bred colt had the pedigree to relish stretching out over 1 1/4 miles at Churchill Downs, and when the starting gates opened, the race shape developed in favor of Golden Tempo’s deep-closing style.

Golden Tempo was a step slow to leave the starting gate, which worked out well since longshot speedster Six Speed—starting two posts inside of Golden Tempo—broke outward, pushing Further Ado into the wide-drawn Ocelli and Robusta.

Further Ado was compromised by the incident and wound up racing farther off the pace than usual, but Golden Tempo avoided any meaningful trouble and quickly shifted toward the inside, dropping back to trail the field by as many as 17 3/4 lengths while Six Speed rocketed ahead to set quick fractions of :22.68, :46.44, and 1:10.90. So Happy and Danon Bourbon tracked the pace in second and third place, while Wonder Dean, Litmus Test, and Emerging Market also raced prominently.

“I knew my horse was a deep closer, so I don't have any interest in being in front early,” said Ortiz. “You can see the way I broke, when I go to the rail and save ground. So I did that, and I was hoping for a big run late. I was hoping for a fast pace, and I'm glad we had it.”

As the field rounded the final turn, Golden Tempo began a rapid advance, surging past rivals while shifting outside for racing room. He shadowed the rally of Renegade, who had dropped a dozen lengths off the pace after breaking from post 1 and bumping with rivals in the initial stages of the race.

For a few moments, there was an opportunity for Golden Tempo to advance between rivals, inside of Renegade. But Ortiz instead steered Golden Tempo to the extreme outside.

“I don't want to mess with the inside with 20 horses,” said Ortiz. “I've done it in the past, not good. I felt like I had horse, so I was following Irad with Renegade. I felt like we were moving along very nice, so I felt like going outside of him wasn't gonna hurt me.”

It proved to be the winning move. Up front, Danon Bourbon was growing leg-weary after inheriting the lead from the fading Six Speed. He was soon passed by Ocelli, but the two runners moving best were Renegade and Golden Tempo.

Renegade was full of run as the wire approached, but Golden Tempo had even more momentum and surged past in the final strides to prevail by a neck in 2:02.27. It was the second-closest Kentucky Derby finish of the 21st century.

“I've been riding [at Churchill Downs] now more regularly, and I know the track better,” said Ortiz. “I know the exact point that I had to make my move today. I think I timed it right.”

Golden Tempo is the first horse to win the Derby in last-to-first fashion since Mine That Bird in 2009.

Renegade ran gallantly in defeat, edging Ocelli by three-quarters of a length for second place. Chief Wallabee rallied up the rail to nab fourth place over Danon Bourbon, followed by Incredibolt, Commandment, Wonder Dean, So Happy, Emerging Market, Further Ado, Potente, Six Speed, Robusta, Albus, Intrepido, Litmus Test, and Pavlovian.

Fulleffort, Silent Tactic, Right to Party, and also-eligible entrant Corona de Oro scratched in the days leading up to the Derby. The Puma withdrew on the morning of the race, and Great White was a late scratch after rearing up and flipping over behind the starting gate.

The Kentucky Derby marked far and away the biggest win of Golden Tempo’s career. Competing during the winter and spring at Fair Grounds, he won his first two starts—including the Lecomte (G3)—prior to running third in the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby. In the latter race, he was beaten one length by Kentucky Derby rivals Emerging Market and Pavlovian, but closed with interest down the homestretch, foreshadowing his successful rally on the first Saturday in May.

“We had a plan, even right after the Lecomte when he won,” said DeVaux. “We talked that he's a horse that's going to continue to develop and mature, and if we had enough [qualifying] points—the goal was not to win those races, the goal was to win this race. So each race was a building point to get here.”

Golden Tempo is a son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin out of Top Flight H. (G3) winner Carrumba, a daughter of champion three-year-old male Bernardini. He’s the first son of Curlin to prevail in the Kentucky Derby, outperforming Curlin’s previous runners-up Exaggerator (2016), Good Magic (2018), and Journalism (2025). Curlin has now sired winners of all three Triple Crown races; Exaggerator and Journalism both won the Preakness (G1), while Palace Malice nabbed the 2013 Belmont (G1).

DeVaux indicated a decision on whether Golden Tempo continues down the Triple Crown trail in the May 16 Preakness will be based on how he comes out of the Kentucky Derby.

“We're going to let him decide that,” said DeVaux. “We're going to see how he looks tomorrow, and subsequently, the next couple weeks—or, you know, the next couple days. But we're going to have to allow him to tell us, because the horse is first. We're not here for ourselves. We're not here for our egos. We're here for the horse.”

Golden Record exits Kentucky Derby Day with a 5-3-0-2 career record, good for earnings of $3,433,000.

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