Golden Tempo rallies from last to win the 152nd Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs

Horse racing got the kind of finish the Kentucky Derby sells every year and almost never delivers this cleanly. Golden Tempo was last, then suddenly wasn’t, then somehow got to the wire first on Saturday night at Churchill Downs. The horse beat Renegade by a nose in the 152nd Derby, and the result landed as both an upset and a history-making moment. Cherie DeVaux became the first female trainer ever to win the race, while Jose Ortiz finally got his first Derby after a string of misses. ### How wild was the comeback? Very wild. Golden Tempo went off at 23-1 and was dead last entering the final turn. Even at the top of the stretch, the horse still looked buried. Then Ortiz found room, swung outside, and Golden Tempo tore through the field to edge Renegade at the wire, with Ocelli finishing third. The final time was 2:02.27. ### Why did the race set up that way? Because the pace got hot early — exactly the kind of setup a deep closer needs. DeVaux said there was plenty of speed on paper, and that’s how it played out. Ortiz basically rode for one run, saved ground early, waited for the field to soften up, then asked for everything late. Turns out that was the right read. ### Why is Cherie DeVaux’s win such a big deal? Because no woman had ever trained a Kentucky Derby winner before Saturday. Not one. Female trainers had gotten horses into the Derby, but the race itself had stayed closed off as Belmont win in 2023. ### What about Jose Ortiz? This mattered for him too. Ortiz had been 0-for-10 in previous Derby rides and finally got the win. There was an extra twist — Renegade, the runner-up, was ridden by his brother Irad Ortiz Jr., who was also still chasing his first Derby. So the finish was historic for DeVaux and deeply personal for the Ortiz family at the same time. ### Was this a total out-of-nowhere result? Yes and no. Golden Tempo was a long shot, so the win was absolutely an upset. But the Derby has been friendlier to prices than its reputation suggests. Yahoo pointed out that long shots have broken through. The surprise was real — but the pattern isn’t brand new. ### How big were the payouts? Big enough to make casual bettors very happy. A $2 win ticket on Golden Tempo returned $48.24. The place payout was $19.14 and the show payout was $11.90. The exacta with Golden Tempo over Renegade paid $278.86. That’s what happens when a 23-1 shot beats a 5-1 co-favorite in the biggest betting race in the country. ### Did anything else happen before the start? Yes — and it added a little chaos. Great White was scratched late after throwing jockey Alex Achard near the gate area. The horse got back up and was led off, but the rest of the field had to come out and reload before the race finally went off with 18 horses instead of 19. ### Bottom line Golden Tempo didn’t just win the Derby. The horse turned a familiar race into one of those finishes people will actually remember — because the stretch run was absurd, the odds were long, and the history was real.