By B. Jason Brooks
Just four months after winning his career debut, Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable’s homebred Golden Tempo can become a virtual lock for the Kentucky Derby by finishing among the top three in Saturday’s Louisiana Derby (G2).
With eight Derby prep races remaining in the U.S. between now and April 11th, the top-ranking 20 or so (after accounting for potential scratches) will have the opportunity to race for Derby glory. Golden Tempo currently ranks 12th on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 35 points.
Since the current Kentucky Derby points system was first implemented in 2023 in which the top five finishers in Derby prep races are awarded points towards a starting position, those with the fewest points in the starting gate were Baeza in 2023 with 37.5 points, Epic Ride in 2024 with 35 points, and Mandarin Hero and King Russell who both had 40 points in 2025.
The top five finishers of the Louisiana Derby will receive 100, 50, 25, 15, and 10 points, so a strong showing for Golden Tempo would almost guarantee him a start in the Kentucky Derby.
In his three career starts so far, all at Fair Grounds with jockey Jose Ortiz aboard, a lack of early speed has left Golden Tempo with a lot of work to do in the stretch. He was talented enough to close with the necessary speed to win his debut on December 20th and then again second time out on January 17th in the Lecomte Stakes (G3). Given his running style and the way the track was playing for his third career start, he settled for third-place last time out on February 14th in the Risen Start Stakes (G2), finishing behind Paladin and Chip Honcho.
Looking to get Golden Tempo more focused early on, trainer Cherie DeVaux will add blinkers for the first time. As stated in Ron Flatter’s Horse Racing Nation story posted (here) on Friday morning, DeVaux’s strategy is that “[w]ith the blinkers, we’re not trying to change his running style. He’s a closer. He’s effective being a closer, but we just want him more involved in the earlier stages of the race so that when he does make his run, he doesn’t have so much to do.”
Stretching out to a mile-and-three-sixteenths for the first time, Golden Tempo is expected to relish the longer distance based on his past performances and breeding. As Alan Porter noted in his January 20th BloodHorse column (here), “In addition to Curlin’s qualifications as a classic sire, the distaff side of Golden Tempo’s pedigree also suggests that classic distances will be no problem for him. His dam Carrumba is by Bernardini, a champion 3-year-old whose successes included the Preakness Stakes, Travers Stakes (G1), and Jockey Club Gold Cup.” (For more on Golden Tempo’s successful Phipps female family, see “Phipps and St. Elias’s Golden Tempo Shines in Debut; Declared a TDN Rising Star” on the Phipps Stable Fan blog.)
Saturday’s Louisiana Derby will be a strong indicator of Golden Tempo’s ability to succeed at classic distances, something that DeVaux takes very seriously. In the Horse Racing Nation story, she stated that her Derby horses have to “have a good shot of having a good showing… I’m not the type of person that wants to just go to the Kentucky Derby for all the hoopla.”
Following stints that included six years with Chuck Simon and then eight with Chad Brown, Cherie DeVaux went out on her own as a trainer in 2018. She earned her first graded win with Gam’s Mission in the 2021 Regret Stakes (G3) and her first top-tier victory with She Feels Pretty in the 2023 Natalma Stakes (G1). In addition to She Feel Pretty adding four more grade 1 wins to her resume, DeVaux’s other elite winners have included Vahva in the 2024 Derby City Distaff (G1) and More Than Looks in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1). Her career’s ascent is on track for its first Kentucky Derby starter with Golden Tempo.
Golden Tempo’s success has brough a lot of excitement for the Phipps family who are celebrating 100 years in U.S. Thoroughbred breeding and racing. Having won the Preakness in 1957 with Bold Ruler, Belmont Stakes in 1989 with Easy Goer, and, finally, the Kentucky Derby in 2013 with Orb (co-bred and -owned with Dinny Phipps’s cousin Stuart S. Janney III), the timing of Golden Tempo’s success is a thrilling way to begin the start of a new century for the elite stable, this time with Vinnie and Teresa Viola’s St. Elias Stable sharing in the victories as co-breeders and co-owners. (For more on the Phipps family’s century of success, see “Saratoga Yearlings From Phipps Families Average $1M+” in BloodHorse here.)
B. Jason Brooks is a Thoroughbred racing and pedigree researcher, writer, and social media manager residing in Saratoga Springs, New York.
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