(Golden Tempo rallies to win Saturday’s G1 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga / Photo Courtesy of NYRA)

From the NYRA Media Team / Mary Eddy:

Under overcast skies and a sudden deluge of rain, Grade 1 Kentucky Derby-winner Golden Tempo shone brightest down the stretch of Saratoga Race Course as he charged through the wire a 1 1/4-length winner of Saturday’s Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, contested for the third and final time at 10-furlongs around the historic Upstate New York oval.

Next year, the Belmont Stakes will return to its Long Island home at a new and re-imagined Belmont Park. In addition to the history this year’s winner would inevitably write as the last of three Saratoga Belmont Stakes-winners, Golden Tempo’s victory elevated the race’s significance in the annals of the sport as he made Cherie DeVaux the second woman to train a Belmont Stakes winner following Jena Antonucci’s feat in 2023 with Arcangelo.

DeVaux, who has made a rapid ascent to the forefront of popular media and culture after becoming the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner, adds a Belmont to her crown just eight years after starting her first horse. She is now the only woman to train a winner of multiple Triple Crown races.

The win was significant not just for DeVaux, but for the colt’s regular rider Jose Ortiz, who has been aboard each of the son of Curlin’s six lifetime outings. Ortiz, who owns a personal Triple Crown, earned the elusive Kentucky Derby/Kentucky Oaks double this year for his rides atop Golden Tempo and Always a Runner, and won his second career Belmont Stakes after taking the top prize in 2017 aboard Tapwrit. He won the Grade 1 Preakness in 2022 atop Early Voting.

Trainer Cherie DeVaux:

“Jose did the right thing and took him back knowing he makes that one run – not surprised that he won, but we’re really grateful that he did,” said DeVaux, who also won the Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun with Englishman earlier on the card.

A Kentucky homebred for Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable, Golden Tempo entered the Belmont from his last-to-first Derby victory on May 2 over returning rival Renegade, upsetting the 18-horse field at odds of 23-1. In January, he posted a late-running victory in the Grade 3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds Race Course, the site of a pair of Grade 2 thirds in the Risen Star in February and Louisiana Derby in March, efforts that earned him a spot in the Kentucky Derby.

Daisy Phipps Pulito, who operates Phipps Stable with her brother Ogden Phipps, II, said it is rewarding for the esteemed stable to win their first Belmont Stakes since Hall of Famer Easy Goer took the 1989 edition for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.

“He’s taken a lot of steps forward, physically and mentally, and it really showed today,” DeVaux said. “Jose found himself at the back of the pack, but he was going to be wide if he didn’t tuck in, which I was pleased with that. Jose just rode him super confidently. He knew he had a lot of horse under him, and at the top of the stretch, he had him in a position to make that run, and Golden Tempo did the rest.”

“He broke a lot more alertly,” DeVaux said of how the start compared to that of the Derby. “He did come out of the gate and get a little lost, took a bit of a right hand turn, but showed a lot more speed out of the gate, which all signs were pointing to he was going to put himself more into the race. Especially with a slower pace than we had in the Derby.”

“He’s a horse that we are very excited about,” DeVaux said. “We’ll talk about a plan. Obviously, the Travers is going to be our next big goal and how we get there, but you can see it on the track, what all of our markers are, is what we’re hoping to translate to what we saw today.”

 

Owner Daisy Phipps Pulito:

“It’s been a hot minute since we won the Belmont Stakes, [nearly] 40 years, but what my great grandmother, grandfather and father built, Ogden and I, and the Violas, got the rewards from,” Phipps Pulito said. “I mean, he’s a phenomenal horse; he’s got a fantastic pedigree. Obviously, there were doubters after the Derby, like Cherie said, we were very confident with the kind of horse we had going into the Derby and going into the Belmont. I’m glad everyone else got to see that today, too.”

Ahead of the Belmont Stakes, DeVaux was clear about her trust in both her deep-closing horse and Ortiz, deciding to let fate take the reins as a suspected lack of pace appeared on paper. She noted that there would be no intention to change Golden Tempo’s late-footed running style, and that trust in her horse and rider paid dividends on Saturday as Ortiz guided the bay to victory from last, just as he did in the Kentucky Derby five weeks ago.

In the Belmont, Golden Tempo broke sharply but outwardly from the outermost post 9 and bobbled after hitting the gate. Nevertheless, he kept contact with the field and angled in as Ortiz allowed him to bide his time and find his footing at the rear of the field while the quick-starting Powershift took his expected place at the helm under Luis Saez. Manny Franco coaxed Growth Equity – one of three entries for five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown – along to attend the pace with the first quarter-mile clocked in 23.96 seconds over the fast but rain-doused course.

Golden Tempo was last heading into the backstretch with Commandment racing just ahead and outside of him under Hall of Famer John Velazquez, watching from afar as Powershift reached the half-mile in 48.29 and three-quarters in 1:12.38 before the dynamics began to change. The Brown-trained Emerging Market accelerated heading into the turn, and threw his hat in the ring to the outside of stablemate Growth Equity, who stuck his head in front of a toiling Powershift.

Vitruvian Man, who had maintained inside stalking position throughout, steadied and dropped back as the favored Renegade and the Hall of Famer Bill Mott-trained Chief Wallabee advanced, the latter attempting to provide his trainer and jockey Junior Alvarado with a repeat Belmont victory after winning last year with Sovereignty.

Commandment and Golden Tempo had only Ottinho beat late in the turn, and were full of run as they ran up on the embattled group of rivals, with both Ortiz and Velazquez opting to angle their charges wide for their respective bids. Renegade followed the closers out and around under Irad Ortiz, Jr. while Powershift retreated and the field fanned wide into the lane after the mile in 1:37.56.

With six rivals spread across the track, it was Chief Wallabee who led the fray as Emerging Market stalled and a stubborn Growth Equity dug in along the inside. But with an eighth of a mile to run, the Grade 1-winning trio of Renegade, Golden Tempo and Commandment loomed large and inhaled Chief Wallabee. And while each of the distinguished colts showed an impressive late foot, it was Golden Tempo who boasted the superior momentum between rivals, drawing off from familiar foe Renegade and staving off a pestering Commandment to score in a final time of 2:03.49.

Jockey Jose Ortiz:

“I tried to make my move at the right time, with Renegade and Commandment. Split between them and he responded well,” Ortiz said. “He handled the track very well. He handled the mile and a quarter very well. I tried to keep him tactical, in contention with the field. I tried to keep him tactical.”

Commandment held second by four lengths over Renegade with Chief Wallabee hanging onto fourth to complete the superfecta. Emerging Market, Growth Equity, Vitruvian Man, Ottinho and Powershift rounded out the order of finish.

With two jewels of the Triple Crown now affixed to her resume, DeVaux could look to add a Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers victory to her growing list of accolades on August 29 here with her prized colt.

Golden Tempo is a sixth-generation Phipps homebred out of the Grade 3-winner Carrumba, with his female line tracing to Reine-de-Course mare Lady Pitt. In victory, he became the 13th horse to win both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, and took home the winner’s share of $1.2 million, boosting his bankroll to $4,633,000. Golden Tempo returned $14 on a $2 win ticket.

Jockey John Velazquez — Commandment (2nd):

Velazquez said the Brad Cox-trained Commandment, winner of the Grade 1 Florida Derby in March, was admirable in defeat following a troubled seventh in the Derby.

“My horse put up a really good fight,” the veteran rider said. “I was trying to hold the eventual winner around the turn, and my horse just isn’t good on the turn. Then when we came down the lane and he actually went on with him. The last sixteenth of a mile, [Golden Tempo] outran him.”

Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, trainer of Grade 1 Arkansas Derby-winner Renegade and the pacesetting Powershift, said the former would have benefitted from a bit more time between races after his fast-closing effort in the Derby, where he was a neck back of Golden Tempo.

Trainer Todd Pletcher — Renegade (3rd) & Powershift:

“I thought [Renegade] got a pretty good trip,” Pletcher said. “He got clear late at the top of the stretch, which we were obviously looking to do. He gave [Ortiz, Jr.] a little bit of a run but not the same sustained run that he did in the Derby. I think he was just a little flat today.”

As for Powershift, Pletcher said the post-time change in weather could have factored into the colt’s performance.

“I don’t know what happened at the quarter pole,” he said. “It looked like [Powershift] was backing up a little bit and then Luis had to grab him and steady him. He got reasonable fractions. The track’s been difficult to read all week, and we got that little bit of rain right before the race. I don’t know if that [factored in]. It seemed like kind of a slow time for this race.”

A title defense was not in the cards for Mott and Alvarado after winning last year’s Belmont with subsequent Horse of the Year Sovereignty, but the connections were proud of Grade 1-placed Chief Wallabee’s effort nonetheless.

Trainer Bill Mott — Chief Wallabee (4th):

“He tried hard,” Mott said. “He made the lead turning for home, and it looked like a mile and a quarter was just a little too much for him.”

Alvarado was in agreement.

Jockey Junior Alvarado — Chief Wallabee: 

“We had a good trip. No real excuses,” he said. “When I made my move, my horse picked it up. He just couldn’t hold the horses that went by.”

Live racing resumes Sunday with an 11-race card, highlighted by the Grade 3, $300,000 Poker in Race 4 and the Grade 3. $200,00 Soaring Softly in Race 8. First post is 12:05 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races presents daily coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/event-info/tv-schedule.