Cherie DeVaux made history when Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby at the beginning of May, becoming the first female trainer to win the first leg of the Triple Crown.DeVaux, 44, said that while she never made her gender part of her identity as a horse trainer, it was the one thing she wanted to do as a female.”It was the one thing as a female I wanted to do just cause I thought it would be – it’s a neat benchmark. There are 151 runnings with all men, and then it’s me,” DeVaux told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM”I have never made a stand that my gender was part of my identity as a trainer. I am a horse trainer. We all work really hard, male, female. So it wasn’t on the heels of being a female.”For DeVaux, she was happy that the conversation about a female winning the Kentucky Derby could finally move on.”I actually was getting a bit – I don’t want to say tired in a bad way, but that question kept coming up, and it’s like it’s time for the conversation to move on from it is how I felt. I quipped in the post-Derby interview, ‘Thank God I don’t have to answer that question anymore,’” DeVaux said.The Saratoga Springs, New York, native, said that it’s an honor to be someone that people look up to.”It’s an honor. And I hold great respect with the fact that I am somebody now that people, women, men, people look up to. That’s something that I don’t lose sight of, and I’m just out doing my thing, and if that can inspire somebody else, it’s a bonus on top,” DeVaux said.”I’ve always felt like we need to be doing – we train horses, but we can reach the community, or others, just by doing what we’re doing and conducting yourself, holding yourself accountable and to a higher standard.”GOLDEN TEMPO TO SKIP PREAKNESS STAKES, ENDING TRIPLE CROWN BID AS TRAINER CITES LONG-TERM HEALTHDeVaux, about a week and a half removed from the Kentucky Derby win, said that things are finally starting to settle down.”It’s been overwhelming in a really amazing way,” DeVaux said. “Been busy, doing a lot more extracurriculars other than running our stable, which I keep joking that when a league wins a championship, they go to Disney World, and we continue to have a lot of horses to train. So, things are starting to quiet down a little bit and getting back to the enjoyment of working with our horses and training the rest of the stable.”Going into the race, Golden Tempo was 23-1 to win the Kentucky Derby. DeVaux said she felt good about Golden Tempo but was tempering her expectations.”I felt that Golden Tempo was going to run a really good race. We targeted the race. We had a plan with him. He checked all the boxes. He got to the race in great order, but realistically, it’s the derby. And it’s our first trip to the derby, and there’s a lot of horses in it. It’s not a very good chance you’re going to win, right?” DeVaux said.”So, just realistic expectations that I put on the whole situation
Cherie DeVaux reflects on making Kentucky Derby history as first female trainer to win the race
