SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – As a most memorable May gives way to June, trainer Cherie DeVaux believes that Golden Tempo (Curlin) is ready for his next challenge, the GI Belmont Stakes Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.Four weeks and three works after his dramatic victory in the GI Kentucky Derby, which secured DeVaux a forever place in racing history, Golden Tempo breezed Saturday and shipped Sunday from central Kentucky to upstate New York for the third and final Belmont Stakes at Saratoga.Just before his victory by a neck at 23-1 in the Derby, Golden Tempo had shown DeVaux that he was poised to deliver a big performance. She said that the colt has maintained the same path forward.“He's continuing to tout himself, acts really confident, really looks great on the track,” she said. “All of those metrics are trending in that positive direction.”Golden Tempo was third by six lengths in the GII Risen Star and, wearing blinkers for the first time, third by a length in the GII Louisiana Derby in his final two preps and wasn't considered a big threat in the Derby. However, DeVaux said it had become obvious to her by the differences in his demeanor that he was emerging as a ready-for-prime-time player.“That was sort of the beginning of them,” she said. “But it's been really profound to see how much he's changed in the last months.”DeVaux, 44, has been around race horses her entire life. She grew up in a family that specialized in training and racing Standardbreds. Before opening her own stable in 2018, she spent a total of 14 years working for trainers, the late Chuck Simon and Chad Brown.Golden Tempo joined DeVaux's stable in August and made his race debut in late December. She said he was not a precocious type, has benefitted from time and the added distances, and that his development has continued since his Derby score.“Just the way physically he's shaped up,” she said. “He's a lot stronger. He's gotten a lot more fit looking, Just the way he carries himself and acts on the track and in the barn.”The instant that Golden Tempo edged Renegade (Into Mischief) at Churchill Downs on May 2, the story switched from his last-to-first surge under Jose Ortiz to DeVaux becoming the first woman to train the winner of America's biggest race. That triumph has taken DeVaux on a delightful and demanding journey and prompted a chuckle while answering a question about how May had been for her.“Really busy,” she said, noting that winning the Derby is unlike achieving success in championship-level contests in other sports.“We don't get to go to Disney World, we get to go back to the barn and try to find the next one with the 2-year-olds coming in,” she said. “It's been busy. It's been really exciting, kind of overwhelming. Not my business, the support, the fans. But we're back to the business at hand of training horses and now we just try to fit in interviews when time allows.”DeVaux said she has done over 100 interviews since the Derby.“There's been a lot of support from mainstream media that wouldn't necessarily be expected, like the Bloomberg channel reached out, a couple CNN segments we were on,” she said. “All of it has been kind of tied into what their networks are. Bloomberg is talking about the finances of it and the financial impact. It's been a lot. It's been well-rounded, and it's been good for the sport, because it's kind of getting it out into people that may not necessarily have a reason to watch.”The post-Derby flurry of activity started quickly with a trip to New York City.“I left Sunday afternoon,” she said. “I got there Sunday night, did a bunch of in-house interviews for NBC and CBS, and then got home at 12:30 on Monday night, and was at the barn Tuesday morning.”A couple of days later, she was back in New York for what she said – without hesitation – was the most fun experience that came out of the Derby: “Going to the Yankees game and throwing out the first pitch. I'm a lifelong Yankees fan.“I started my morning in Louisville training, got on a plane and ended up there. I've only missed one morning of training. I'm taking a lot of pride in that.”DeVaux and Golden Tempo's co-breeders and owners, Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable, opted to skip the GI Preakness Stakes and prepare the colt for the Belmont Stakes at her home base at Keeneland. His first breeze back was a half-mile in :48.60 on May 15. With Ortiz up on May 23, he covered five furlongs on 1:01.20, a work that received a positive review from DeVaux.“Another step forward,” she said. “Jose is aboard him a lot when he works, and he also feels that he's taken a step forward. He looked great and had a really nice gallop out.”Much like he did in his final work before the Derby, Golden Tempo turned in a quick last pre-Belmont breeze on May 30, getting :48.20 in company, the third-fastest of 49 at the distance that morning.After the back-to-back thirds in his prior two races, Golden Tempo came into the Derby a bit under the radar with his final odds putting him in the middle of the 18-horse field. Surely, he will get more respect in the Belmont. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, whose Chief Wallabee (Constitution) will be in the Belmont after finishing fourth in the Derby, said that Golden Tempo did show signs that he could be a contender.“Nothing surprises me in the Derby,” Mott said. “I went back and looked at his past performances after the fact, and I could make a case for him. He had been very consistent, he had run some very good races, only beaten a length, a length and a half in some of his races. He certainly never embarrassed himself in any of his starts. He was the type of horse, with the good pace they had in the Derby, he was a big closer and it worked out in his favor.”Golden Tempo left from Post 16 in the Derby and DeVaux said she would prefer that he draws away from the rail again in the expected field of 10 for the Belmont.“I think being outside suits him a bit better than being inside,” she said. “It's not the Derby traffic that they get, but it just kind of ensures that they break and run away from him, and he can find his spot.”While the distance is the same and half the field will be made up of Derby veterans, DeVaux knows that the first Saturday of June will be different for her than the first Saturday of last month.“I don't think it's about going into a big race,” she said. “It's now we have the Kentucky Derby winner, and there's a level of expectation to at least match his effort. I don't get nervous, like I get more anxious. I just want the race to be there and run and make sure that he comes back happy and healthy. I was confident in him going into the Derby, and I felt he would run a really good race. Internally, it doesn't really change how I see it. It's a different type of excitement.”The post Approaching Belmont, DeVaux Likes What Golden Tempo is Showing Her appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.