DeVaux Family Roots Run Deep Around Saratoga

Five weeks ago, members of trainer Cherie DeVaux's family piled into a white passenger van and another vehicle and traveled hundreds of miles from New York to Kentucky to cheer on Cherie's top 3-year-old Golden Tempo to Kentucky Derby (G1) glory. With that May 2 victory in the $5 million race at Churchill Downs, DeVaux took her place in the Derby record books as the first female to train the winner of the American classic. The family has a much shorter commute to provide a cheering section for Cherie and owners the Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable's Golden Tempo in the June 6 Belmont Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. The $2 million race might not quite be in the family's backyard, but it's awfully close. While Central Kentucky is now home to Cherie, much of the family resides in upstate New York, including her parents, Butch and Janet DeVaux, who live in South Glens Falls, less than 20 miles north of the track. The family's ties to the area run deep. Cherie was born in Saratoga Springs 44 years ago, before later relocating with her family for a period and growing up in Florida. Her brother, Jim, continues to add to his total of more than 7,000 victories as a harness racing driver, including competing at Saratoga Harness, where he was the leading driver from 2021-23. And her youngest sister, Adrianne, who previously assisted Cherie, is now a successful trainer in her own right with a stable of Thoroughbreds in a barn alongside the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga. The DeVauxes kicked off Belmont week with a family gathering at nearby Augie's Italian Restaurant after Cherie and Golden Tempo arrived in Saratoga Springs. Adrianne also has planned a crawfish boil at her barn June 5. "It's an amazing opportunity to get to spend with my family, the buildup in the week of getting to spend time with my family, the young ones that don't get to come to the races, my nieces and nephews," Cherie said during a media teleconference ahead of the Belmont. "I'm really looking forward to that opportunity to sharing what I do with them." That profession—conditioning a stable of approximately 120 Thoroughbred racehorses—has brought DeVaux to the pinnacle of the sport with her colt's Kentucky Derby victory. "Very, very proud," Butch said. "I mean, she was always a go-getter, and she's always worked hard." "I actually walked over with them, and it didn't even feel real that she won," Adrianne said. "It still doesn't feel real, you know. It's kind of like, oh, that's our sister, right?" For the DeVauxes, horse racing has long been much of the family's way of life. Another of Cherie's siblings, Kenny, trains Standardbreds elsewhere in the state at Monticello Raceway, just as Butch did after being persuaded to get involved in Standardbred ownership decades ago by his late brother-in-law, John Lane. The family's life trajectory was forever influenced by that decision. Cherie's other living siblings—Barbara, John, ReJean, and Jesse—also grew up around equines before pursuing other careers. As for Cherie, she initially gravitated toward barrel racing, an interest shared by her mother. But her Standardbred roots remain evident. In a decades-old photo shared on social media by Adrianne, who documented the family's Kentucky Derby trip on X with the hashtag #devauxsonthegeaux, a young Cherie stands alongside the Standardbred Butch's Best Dragon while her father stands beside her in colorful driving silks. The horse was named after her late brother, Adrian, known as "Little Butch," one of two siblings the family continues to honor following their deaths. The other was Madison Shearer. Given the family's lifelong involvement with horses, Adrianne said, "Everyone knows the deal, and it is not taken lightly by anyone in our family of how much of an accomplishment it is not only to be in the Derby, but to win the Derby, and then the fact that you know she's able to run in the Belmont. It's definitely not lost upon anyone." Golden Tempo arrives for Saturday's race as one of the most recognizable horses in America following his 23-1 Derby upset. The colt's dramatic late kick and DeVaux's historic breakthrough transformed them from respected contenders into national figures. After sitting out the Preakness Stakes (G1), the second leg of the Triple Crown, Golden Tempo will attempt to pair victories in the Derby and Belmont, as eventual Horse of the Year Sovereignty did last year. While Golden Tempo may be the race's most recognizable entrant, he is not the favorite. Repole Stable and Robert and Lawana Low's Renegade, runner-up in the Derby after encountering early trouble from the rail, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite for trainer Todd Pletcher. Michael and Katherine Ball's Chief Wallabee, trained by Bill Mott to a troubled fourth-place Derby finish, is the 3-1 second choice. Golden Tempo, with regular rider Jose Ortiz aboard, is the 9-2 third choice. The pace of the Belmont is not expected to be as demanding as in the Derby, likely meaning Golden Tempo cannot afford to fall nearly 18 lengths behind the leaders as he did before launching his rally. The late-running Curlin 3-year-old, who earlier in the year won the Lecomte Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, owns a 3-0-2 record from five starts with earnings exceeding $3.4 million. The Belmont will be contested at the same 1 1/4-mile distance as the Derby, a result of the Belmont being run at Saratoga for a third consecutive year while reconstruction nears completion at Belmont Park. This will be the final Belmont Stakes held in upstate New York before the race returns to its traditional home at Belmont Park on Long Island in 2027. So the 2026 Belmont brings Cherie back to Saratoga Springs, where her life began. Adrianne said one of the most surreal developments since the Derby has been seeing her sister celebrated throughout the horse-centric town. Some of the same downtown streets and storefronts the family has known for years now feature tributes to Cherie. "That kind of is more or less the part that I'm a little like starstruck about," Adrianne said. Asked about being represented in the Belmont Stakes by Golden Tempo in the town of her birth, Cherie reflected, "It's a little profound, but here we are. It's exciting and special."