Golden Tempo's last-to-first Kentucky Derby win explained

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Watching from the stands, trainer Cherie DeVaux was not worried when her horse Golden Tempo was last in a field of 18 horses for much of the Kentucky Derby. Aboard the horse, jockey Jose Ortiz wasn't either.

By the time the race ended, Golden Tempo won by a neck, bucking the trend of closers not being able to come from behind at Churchill Downs recently and making DeVaux the first female trainer with a Derby champion.

“That’s how he runs, so it’s not like we really did anything different than he had done in his previous starts,” DeVaux said.

While Golden Tempo got bumped by Ocelli to his outside at the break, 38-1 long shot Six Speed went to the lead out of the starting gate and was joined near the front by So Happy and Danon Bourbon. Golden Tempo could not even be seen in the frame on television as the horses rounded the first turn.

“I knew my horse was a deep closer, so I don’t have any interest in being in front early,” Ortiz said. “You can see the way I broke, (then) I go to the rail and save ground.”

Six Speed set a fast early pace, completing the first quarter-mile in 22.68 seconds. The first half-mile was done in 46.44 seconds.

“There was a lot of speed on tap on paper, and that materialized," DeVaux said.

Ortiz began making his move around the far turn and was 13th with a quarter-mile to go. He was ready to rumble and began navigating through horses one by one.

“I was hoping for a big run late,” Ortiz said. “I was hoping for a fast pace, and I’m glad we had it.”

At the top of the stretch, Golden Tempo was still 13th with 12 more horses to pass. He chose the outside lane, going around the field rather than inside.

“I don’t want to mess with the inside with (an 18)-horse field,” Ortiz said. “I’ve done it in the past. Not good.”

He set his sights on older brother Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard No. 1 Renegade, who was also traveling quickly.

“I felt like I had horse,” the younger Ortiz said. “I felt like we were moving along very nice. I felt like going outside on him wasn’t going to hurt me. I think he was the horse to beat.”

Golden Tempo turned out to be that, blowing by everyone and getting to the finish line of the 1 1/4-mile race just in time, justifying DeVaux's good feeling.

“About the 3/16 pole, I thought we’re probably going to win this,” she said. “And then I really kind of blacked out after that.”

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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing