(LEX 18) — From her home in Saratoga, New York (which happens to be another hotbed for thoroughbred horse racing), Shona Rotondo watched history unfold, but it didn’t really surprise her all that much.
“Not at all unexpected. We had so much faith in her,” Rotondo said of Cherie DeVaux’s win at Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. Golden Tempo’s win made Devaux the first female to ever train the derby winner.
“She’s in the history books, not only did she win the Derby, but being the first woman, she is forever etched in the history books,” Rotondo said, before rattling off the horse’s other female connections, including the owner/breeder, Daisy Phipps.
Three years ago, Jena Antonucci trained the Belmont Stakes winner, making her the first female to win a Triple Crown race, but now DeVaux has a chance to win all three legs.
“If the storyline continues (with a win in the second leg at the Preakness Stakes), it has a chance to be the most epic Belmont ever,” Rotondo stated. “We’re so proud of the accomplishment to this point,” she added.
Golden Tempo was running last, or close to the back, for most of the mile and a quarter at The Downs, but made a furious rally at the end. A massive television audience on NBC watched as Devaux coached, screamed, gyrated, and ultimately celebrated from the trackside rail.
“The Derby is number one, so to have a female trainer, and female owner/breeder I’d say, ‘move over kings, we’re part of the story now,’” Rotondo said. “I can't tell you what it does to the confidence level of other women who are trying to do other things that feel impossible in the moment."
