Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable’s homebred juvenile Golden Tempo had a memorable last-to-first win in his career debut on Saturday, December 20th in a six-furlong maiden special weight race on the dirt at Fair Grounds Race Course.
With two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Jose L. Ortiz aboard for trainer Cherie DeVaux, Golden Tempo broke slowly from the gate and settled in as the trailer in the ten-horse field. He hit the top of the stretch six wide at the back of the field and proceeded with an impressive drive down the center of the stretch, winning going away by a length and a half. As Alan Carasso wrote in his Thoroughbred Daily News story, “Golden Tempo kicked in strongly and bridged the better part of a five-length deficit in the final furlong to win by a widening margin while covering his final quarter-mile in a slick :23.57.” (See the Daily Racing Form’s race chart here).
Following the valiant win, the colt was identified by Thoroughbred Daily News as a “rising star,” a distinguished designation awarded to horses early in their careers who the publication’s staff believe have good potential to become graded stakes winners. See “Curlin’s Golden Tempo Charges Home To ‘TDN Rising Star’ Laurels.”
Following the win, Fair Grounds racing presenter Joe Kristufek identified Golden Tempo as “a potential Kentucky Derby prospect” and that he may be pointed to the mile-and-a-sixteenth Lecomte Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds on January 17th. Notably, the 2018 edition of the Lecomte Stakes was won by Larry Best’s OXO Equine colt Instilled Regard, by Arch, who hails from the same Phipps female family as Golden Tempo (detailed below). Out of Phipps-bred Forestry mare Enhancing, Instilled Regard went on to become a grade 1 winner, taking the 2020 Manhattan Stakes by a neck. and entered stud the following year at Taylor Made Stallions in Kentucky.
Frequently getting the call for Phipps Stable entries, Mr. Ortiz has had stakes success for the legendary stable, including Fly So High, by Malibu Moon, in the 2018 Davona Dale Stakes, Mr Speaker, by Pupit, in the 2015 Commonwealth Cup (G2), and Abaco, by Giant’s Causeway, in the 2014 Ballston Spa Stakes (G2). For St. Elias Stable, Mr. Ortiz added an elite win to his resume in 2025 aboard the stable’s co-owned Sandman, by Tapit, in the Arkansas Derby (G1).
Rated an A++ by TrueNicks (here) – a service using a proprietary algorithm to rate the potential success of sire-broodmare crosses based on actual race results – Golden Tempo shares the same Curlin-Bernardini cross as Stonestreet Farm’s homebred Clairiere, winner of the 2022 and 2023 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1), 2023 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1), and 2021 Cotillion Stakes (G1), as well as WinStar Farm’s homebred Paris Lights, winner of the 2020 fillies classic Coaching Club American Oaks (G1).
Other graded winners sharing the cross include the Coolmore connections’ 2022 San Carlos Stakes (G2) and 2021 Kona Gold Stakes (G3) winner Cezanne, Alpha Delta Stable’s 2019 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) winner Point of Honor, Joseph A. Schumer’s Godolphin-bred 2025 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (G3) winner Cornishman, and Robert and Lawana Low’s 2021 Allaire DuPont Distaff Match Series Stakes (G3) winner Spice Is Nice.
Golden Tempo is out of fifth-generation Phipps-bred Carrumba, winner of the 2015 Top Flight Invitational Handicap (G3) who also placed in the 2016 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1). They hail from the accomplished Oh What a Dance branch of Phipps foundation mare Lady Pitt. (See Golden Tempo’s all-inclusive three-dam pedigree analysis from Equineline here.)
Out of blue hen mare Blitey, by Riva Ridge, unraced mare Oh What a Dance is by Nijinsky II (CAN) and her siblings include grade 1 winners Dancing Spree, her full brother, Furlough, by Easy Goer, and Fantastic Find, by Mr. Prospector, the last of which is the fourth dam of 2022 Eclipse Horse of the Year Flightline, by Tapit.
Oh What a Dance’s descendants include five Phipps homebred grade 1 winners. She is dam of Hall of Famer Heavenly Prize, by Seeking the Gold, and her full sister Oh What a Windfall, winner of the 1998 Matron Stakes (G1); second dam of sire Good Reward, by Storm Cat, winner of the 2004 Hollywood Derby (G1) and 2005 Manhattan Handicap (G1), and sire Dancing Forever, by Rahy, winner of the 2008 Manhattan Handicap (G1); and, third dam of Persistently, by Smoke Glacken, winner of the 2010 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1).
In addition to the five grade 1 winners for the Phippses, Oh What a Dance is the third dam of OXO Equine’s above-mentioned Instilled Regard, by Arch, winner of the 2020 Manhattan Stakes (G1); the fourth dam of Silk Racing’s W Heart Bond (JPN), by Kizuna (JPN), who recently became only the second filly or mare to win the Champions Cup (G1) at Chukyo Racecourse in Japan on December 7th (see the TDN story here); and, fifth dam of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and TOLO Thoroughbreds’ Queen Goddess, by Empire Maker, winner of the 2021 American Oaks (G1) who sold in foal to Into Mischief for $1.5 million at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton November Sale to Japan-based owner-breeder Katsumi Yoshida.
According to Cherie DeVaux’s post on X on Sunday, Golden Tempo looks to have come back well from his impressive debut. Stay tuned for what could be a very exciting three-year-old campaign for this talented Phipps and St. Elias homebred.
Phipps Stable Fan 