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Gunite Colt Tops Texas Yearling Sale At Lone Star Park

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GRAND PRAIRIE, TX – A Texas-bred colt by Gunite topped the Texas Thoroughbred Association’s (TTA) single-session Summer Yearling Sale at Lone Star Park’s Mary Ruyle Thoroughbred Sales Pavilion on Tuesday, Aug. 25. Susan Montanye signed the $140,000 ticket on behalf of her client Ken Reimer after a recent endorsement from Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

During the auction, which included mainly Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana-bred yearlings, 108 grossed $1,920,100 for an average of $17,616, a median of $10,000 and 32 were listed as not sold. The gross decreased from a year ago when 183 yearlings sold for just over $2.92-million. The 2024 figures were 143 head sold for $2,686,000.

“We want to thank everyone who braved some record temperatures and came out to support the sale,” said Foster Bridewell, director of horse sales for the TTA. “The consignors did a great job presenting the horses considering the conditions and we were pleased to have a Gunite in Texas as the sales topper who showed himself so well.”

Gunite Colt To Asmussen

The Gunite (hip 41) colt who led the action is out of the winning Wild America (American Pharoah) and this is her second foal after current unraced 2-year-old colt Golden Pharoah (Golden Pal). After producing a late-March filly by Tiz the Law, the Gunite colt’s dam was entered in Domestic Product‘s book for next term.

Wild America–herself out of SW Wild Bout Tiffany (Wildcat Heir)–is a half-sister to GIII Bayakoa Stakes winner Wild Bout Hilary (Midnight Lute).

Consignor Scott Mallory served as agent for Greenhill at Dunegan.

“He was just a straightforward colt and really easy to work with,” said Mallory, who has brought the topper to Lone Star several times. “I was hoping he would attract interest and he did.”

The colt looked the part according to Susan Montayne who told TDN that she regularly shops the Texas Yearling Sale.

“I bought him for my client Ken Reimer,” said SBM’s Susan Montayne. “We’ve had really good success out here. We bought Braken Poppa (Aurelius Maximus) and Thebabeslayer (Collected) out of this sale.

“This is a really classy colt who showed well and looks fast,” she said. “He’ll go to Steve Asmussen who came in and looked at him himself, which is always a good thing since he had Gunite. All the stars aligned and we might not be done yet.”

Montayne wasn’t finished as she swept up the second highest price at the auction for Reimer, which was a $95,000 Louisiana-bred colt by Cyberknife (hip 52), consigned by Mallory, agent.

After the yearling sale was complete, Horses of Racing Age were on offer to cap the day.

Click here for complete sales results.

The post Gunite Colt Tops Texas Yearling Sale At Lone Star Park appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The Saratoga Conversation: Cherie DeVaux

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A few weeks ago, Cherie DeVaux was honored at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. Yes, she has game. Earlier this summer, she got to throw out the first pitch at a New York Yankees game. Since becoming the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby, she has hobnobbed with some of the biggest names in sports. But she still wants to be known as a horse trainer, one that can get a horse ready to perform on the sport’s biggest stage. Like this weekend when she’ll saddle Golden Tempo, her Derby and Belmont winner in the GI Travers Stakes at Saratoga. She sat down with Tim Wilkin for this week’s Saratoga Conversation.

TDN: You just went down to Williamsport (Pa.) and got the Hall of Excellence Award at the Little League World Series.
Cherie DeVaux: That was really neat. I played Little League (softball) and a lot of what you learn playing sports does set you up for here in real life. Teamwork, learning how to lose, learning how to win gracefully, learning how to lose gracefully. You learn how to cultivate your strengths and weaknesses and take constructive criticism. It all helps in the day-to-day life of any business.

TDN: When you played softball, what was your position?
CD: Second base.

TDN: Did you have game?
CD: I made my college’s (Florida Gulf Coast) softball team. I didn’t play, but I was asked to play for the team.

TDN: Did you have a good stick?
CD: I was a switch hitter.

TDN: But could you hit. Power?
CD: I could hit. I could bunt. I was quick. I was tactical.

TDN: Good arm?
CD: Yes. You can’t judge me on the Yankee throw (she and jockey Jose Ortiz threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium on May 7, five days after they won the Kentucky Derby with Golden Tempo).

TDN: You didn’t bounce it.
CD: It got to the plate and bounced. My brother was wondering why I didn’t throw it as hard as I used to throw it when I made them play catch with me because they hurt their hands and bruised their palms.

TDN: So, you could throw. Were you nervous when you threw out that first pitch?
CD: Ah, yeah, because I hadn’t thrown a ball in years besides tossing the ball to the dogs and I didn’t even have a day to prepare. It was very cool. When I was younger, we went to a game, and we were way up in the cheap seats – it was the old stadium.

TDN: Are you a Yankee fan?
CD: Yes.

TDN: Have you met Jessica Steinbrenner (general partner of the Yankees and President of Kinsman Farm, her family’s 850-acre breeding and training farm in Ocala. She has been a constant presence at Saratoga this summer) out here?
CD: My husband (bloodstock agent David Ingordo) knows her; they have a pretty good professional relationship. Myself, no, I have not met her.

TDN: Since the Derby, safe to say it’s been a whirlwind for you?
CD: That would be an understatement (laughs).

TDN: You’ve been on the “Today Show.” You were part of the Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in Sports Dinner. Who was the coolest person you met at that dinner?
CD: There were a lot of people there. One of the coolest was a Middle Eastern woman who races motorcycles. Prince Harry was nice. Alysa Liu (20226 Olympic figure skating champion) was nice. Everybody was really great.

TDN: With everything you have been doing–your job is here with the horses–how have you been able to juggle it?
CD: Well, one, I have a fantastic team. Two, you can’t lose sight of what is most important. And running my business and working with my clients is number one. If we can’t make that work and it gets overwhelming, we don’t do anything outside. The extra stuff comes second to running our business and being a trainer.

TDN: You have about 120 horses?
CD: About that.

TDN: How many are here?
CD: Just about 25 right now.

Golden Tempo and Cherie DeVaux after the Belmont | Sarah Andrew

TDN: You have had good horses in the past. She Feels Pretty won the Eclipse for champion Turf female last year. Golden Tempo?
CD: He’s a different type of horse. She Feels Pretty was there every single race. He is a horse that we very much had to see the future in and come up with a plan. I am grateful for all horses but when you come up with a plan and say ‘here is the plan: the goal is the Derby and here is how we are going to do it.’ And it actually works out … it’s crazy that it actually happens.

TDN: How many times have you watched the Derby?
CD: Not as many as one would think.

TDN: Less than 10?
CD: No, more than 10. I don’t watch it every day, but I watch it periodically.

TDN: Do you still get chills?
CD:  I just started getting chills. To look at it from the perspective of ‘oh, my goodness, I can’t believe that happened.’ That’s taken awhile to even have an emotional reaction. It was at the Fashionable Fillies Luncheon (Aug. 10). That was the first time I had a reaction to it.

TDN: As soon as Golden Tempo crossed the finish line, winning the Derby, your life changed.
CD: Yes, it did. When I was watching the race, I really couldn’t believe all of that happened. Then he won, and this is our life now.

TDN: Golden Tempo heading to the Travers. Will you feel the pressure?
CD: I don’t feel pressure. I’m excited. I’m anxious to get there. Like I keep saying, I just want the race to be here, not to wish it away. I try not to feel pressure because I feel like that’s going to change me and how I act. Some people can’t handle it. I just try to ignore it and try to do what we do every day that has made us get to the point we are at now.

TDN: Since the Derby to now, have you had eight hours of sleep in a night?
CD: No, most definitely not.

TDN: Did you ever use to?
CD: Once in a while.

TDN: What are you getting by on now?
CD: I try to get at least six hours of sleep. One thing about me is I am disciplined. If we’re at a dinner, it if gets to be 7:30, 8 o’clock then I excuse myself and go home.

Golden Tempo | Coady Media

TDN: I am going to go back to your past for one question, and I am going to mention one name. Chuck Simon (the late trainer, who DeVaux worked for; he died in 2024).
CD: Yep.

TDN: What did he mean to you?
CD: Chuck was my mentor. He cultivated me as a horse person. He was really an integral part to getting me to be an assistant trainer and to give me focus and give me a chance to make mistakes and to learn. When I worked for Chuck, I did everything. I was an exercise rider. I breezed. I groomed when I had to. I’d hot walk when I had to. I got to learn every single part of what we do every day. But he really was the one that honed in my skills and literally gave me focus and changed the path that I was on. He’s a huge part of who I am today.

TDN: I am sure you thought about him a lot even before this crazy run you’ve been on.
CD: For sure. There are a couple of people and he’s one of them that I wish were still alive.

TDN: Travers Day comes. How does your day go? Do anything different?  Any superstitions?
CD: No, I kind of do the same thing. What I struggle with now is when we go to the races. I like to just go to the races, do my own thing. But now there’s just so many fans and people that want your attention. That’s been probably the most difficult landscape to navigate since I’m trying to do my job, trying to have my own mental clarity and try to be a bit of an ambassador to our sport.

TDN: There are a lot of people wherever you go, they want time with you. A picture. An autograph. Something.
CD: It’s very difficult and it’s hard to say no.

TDN: And you don’t want to say no.
CD: The other day, when we were running in the Saratoga Derby, everyone’s coming up and wanting pictures, and I look up and it’s three minutes to post! I felt bad, but I’m overwhelmed. I had to go. Three minutes to post, and I still hadn’t even made it to the clubhouse.

TDN: Being the first woman to win the Kentucky Derby; you’re a history maker. That’s some pretty heavy stuff. How do you deal with that? Because people talk to you about it all the time, like I am doing right now.
CD: It’s something I’m cognizant of. I always thought it would be fun to be the first woman to win the Derby because it’s one of those things where I’m like, we just got to check it off and move on. One of my first quotes in the (Derby) press conference was ‘Thank God I don’t have to answer that question anymore,’ because it just gets to be monotonous. I’m a horse trainer, and I’m a woman. Our sport is one of those that really hasn’t changed. It’s still basically the same sport. Horses run around in a circle. We don’t have different bats. We don’t have different balls. We don’t have different cleats. Horses go around in a circle, and the fastest horse wins. After 152 years, we finally break the mold of what it’s been up to then.

TDN: But it will be like, ‘Cherie Devaux, the first woman to ever win the Kentucky Derby’, … It will probably be like that the rest of your life. Is that okay?
CD: That’s fine. I’ll take it.

Cherie DeVaux at the Derby | Coady Media

TDN: I ask this question to everyone. If there is a movie made about your life and you can pick the actor to play you, who are you picking?
CD: I’m gonna be honest. I don’t really know. If it were the past, I would say Audrey Hepburn because she is one of my favorite people.

TDN: You have five empty stalls in your barn, and you can put five horses from history in them. None of them yours. Who would you put in there?
CD: I would take Lady Eli. Zenyatta. Have to say Rachel Alexandra. Curlin. I remember when he was a 2-year-old. He was in the barn next to me. And Secretariat. Have to say Secretariat.

TDN: You can go out to dinner with three people, living or dead. Who are they?
CD: Chuck (Simon). My grandmother and my grandfather. They have all passed. My grandfather, on his deathbed, said, ‘don’t marry a trainer or a jockey.’ He was in the harness racing business. My grandmother was my biggest cheerleader and Chuck is Chuck.

TDN: Do you have nickname?
CD: My name is hard to say for kids, so I am always Re Re. Aunt Re Re.

TDN: Favorite sport other than horse racing.
CD: Baseball or football. I like any competitive sport.

TDN: Do you have a favorite football team?
CD: No (laughs). I just enjoy watching it, especially live. I enjoy watching any sport live.

TDN: You have won the Derby. You have won the Belmont. What’s the next goal for you?
CD: That’s something I’ve been struggling with. What is the next big thing? I won the Queen Elizabeth II and E.P. Taylor (both with She’s Feels Pretty). Those were two races that we participated in a lot when I worked for Chad (Brown) that I thought would be a lot of fun. I don’t know. It’s fun to have these goals. But it’s a little bit like, ‘what do you do after you win the Derby?’ And I really wasn’t expecting to win the Derby on our first trip there. What do we do now? (smiles).

TDN: When you saw Golden Tempo coming in the Derby, when did you know or think you were going to win it?
CD: I was standing in the winner’s circle and that’s where he came up and put his head in front of Renegade. And I thought, ‘don’t give up now,’ and that was it. Right when he came to Renegade. As soon as he got his head in front, I thought, ‘okay, we’re good.’

TDN: How did you celebrate that night? Anything big?
CD: I put a rose at my barn that I worked at with Chuck, and we went to Jeff Ruby’s. I didn’t get to bed until 1:30 and there was a lot of champagne drunk. There was celebrating and there should have been. And I had to fly to New York (on Sunday) for the ‘Today Show.’ I didn’t get any sleep for like a whole week.

TDN: Do you get recognized now more than ever?
CD: Yes.

TDN: Do you like that?
CD: I struggle with it. I like my space. Not that I don’t think winning the Derby is a big deal but sometimes the way people are excited to meet me … it’s like, I train horses, I didn’t solve world peace. It’s great that people are inspired but for me it’s hard to grasp that concept of where they are coming from or their emotions.

TDN: Somewhere along the way, there must have been little girls that came up to you and said, ‘I want to be you someday.’ That must be pretty cool.
CD: It’s very cool. People have come up and said because I did this, they’re excited for their grandchildren or their kids. It is neat. I preface it with I couldn’t take a compliment to save my life before the Derby and that hasn’t changed. That’s why it is a bit difficult for me to navigate.

The post The Saratoga Conversation: Cherie DeVaux appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Gunite Colt Tops Texas Yearling Sale At Lone Star Park

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GRAND PRAIRIE, TX – A Texas-bred colt by Gunite topped the Texas Thoroughbred Association’s (TTA) single-session Summer Yearling Sale at Lone Star Park’s Mary Ruyle Thoroughbred Sales Pavilion on Tuesday, Aug. 25. Susan Montanye signed the $140,000 ticket on behalf of her client Ken Reimer after a recent endorsement from Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

During the auction, which included mainly Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana-bred yearlings, 108 grossed $1,920,100 for an average of $17,616, a median of $10,000 and 32 were listed as not sold. The gross decreased from a year ago when 183 yearlings sold for just over $2.92-million. The 2024 figures were 143 head sold for $2,686,000.

“We want to thank everyone who braved some record temperatures and came out to support the sale,” said Foster Bridewell, director of horse sales for the TTA. “The consignors did a great job presenting the horses considering the conditions and we were pleased to have a Gunite in Texas as the sales topper who showed himself so well.”

Gunite Colt To Asmussen

The Gunite (hip 41) colt who led the action is out of the winning Wild America (American Pharoah) and this is her second foal after current unraced 2-year-old colt Golden Pharoah (Golden Pal). After producing a late-March filly by Tiz the Law, the Gunite colt’s dam was entered in Domestic Product‘s book for next term.

Wild America–herself out of SW Wild Bout Tiffany (Wildcat Heir)–is a half-sister to GIII Bayakoa Stakes winner Wild Bout Hilary (Midnight Lute).

Consignor Scott Mallory served as agent for Greenhill at Dunegan.

“He was just a straightforward colt and really easy to work with,” said Mallory, who has brought the topper to Lone Star several times. “I was hoping he would attract interest and he did.”

The colt looked the part according to Susan Montayne who told TDN that she regularly shops the Texas Yearling Sale.

“I bought him for my client Ken Reimer,” said SBM’s Susan Montayne. “We’ve had really good success out here. We bought Braken Poppa (Aurelius Maximus) and Thebabeslayer (Collected) out of this sale.

“This is a really classy colt who showed well and looks fast,” she said. “He’ll go to Steve Asmussen who came in and looked at him himself, which is always a good thing since he had Gunite. All the stars aligned and we might not be done yet.”

Montayne wasn’t finished as she swept up the second highest price at the auction for Reimer, which was a $95,000 Louisiana-bred colt by Cyberknife (hip 52), consigned by Mallory, agent.

After the yearling sale was complete, Horses of Racing Age were on offer to cap the day.

Click here for complete sales results.

The post Gunite Colt Tops Texas Yearling Sale At Lone Star Park appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The Saratoga Conversation: Cherie DeVaux

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A few weeks ago, Cherie DeVaux was honored at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. Yes, she has game. Earlier this summer, she got to throw out the first pitch at a New York Yankees game. Since becoming the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby, she has hobnobbed with some of the biggest names in sports. But she still wants to be known as a horse trainer, one that can get a horse ready to perform on the sport’s biggest stage. Like this weekend when she’ll saddle Golden Tempo, her Derby and Belmont winner in the GI Travers Stakes at Saratoga. She sat down with Tim Wilkin for this week’s Saratoga Conversation.

TDN: You just went down to Williamsport (Pa.) and got the Hall of Excellence Award at the Little League World Series.
Cherie DeVaux: That was really neat. I played Little League (softball) and a lot of what you learn playing sports does set you up for here in real life. Teamwork, learning how to lose, learning how to win gracefully, learning how to lose gracefully. You learn how to cultivate your strengths and weaknesses and take constructive criticism. It all helps in the day-to-day life of any business.

TDN: When you played softball, what was your position?
CD: Second base.

TDN: Did you have game?
CD: I made my college’s (Florida Gulf Coast) softball team. I didn’t play, but I was asked to play for the team.

TDN: Did you have a good stick?
CD: I was a switch hitter.

TDN: But could you hit. Power?
CD: I could hit. I could bunt. I was quick. I was tactical.

TDN: Good arm?
CD: Yes. You can’t judge me on the Yankee throw (she and jockey Jose Ortiz threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium on May 7, five days after they won the Kentucky Derby with Golden Tempo).

TDN: You didn’t bounce it.
CD: It got to the plate and bounced. My brother was wondering why I didn’t throw it as hard as I used to throw it when I made them play catch with me because they hurt their hands and bruised their palms.

TDN: So, you could throw. Were you nervous when you threw out that first pitch?
CD: Ah, yeah, because I hadn’t thrown a ball in years besides tossing the ball to the dogs and I didn’t even have a day to prepare. It was very cool. When I was younger, we went to a game, and we were way up in the cheap seats – it was the old stadium.

TDN: Are you a Yankee fan?
CD: Yes.

TDN: Have you met Jessica Steinbrenner (general partner of the Yankees and President of Kinsman Farm, her family’s 850-acre breeding and training farm in Ocala. She has been a constant presence at Saratoga this summer) out here?
CD: My husband (bloodstock agent David Ingordo) knows her; they have a pretty good professional relationship. Myself, no, I have not met her.

TDN: Since the Derby, safe to say it’s been a whirlwind for you?
CD: That would be an understatement (laughs).

TDN: You’ve been on the “Today Show.” You were part of the Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in Sports Dinner. Who was the coolest person you met at that dinner?
CD: There were a lot of people there. One of the coolest was a Middle Eastern woman who races motorcycles. Prince Harry was nice. Alysa Liu (20226 Olympic figure skating champion) was nice. Everybody was really great.

TDN: With everything you have been doing–your job is here with the horses–how have you been able to juggle it?
CD: Well, one, I have a fantastic team. Two, you can’t lose sight of what is most important. And running my business and working with my clients is number one. If we can’t make that work and it gets overwhelming, we don’t do anything outside. The extra stuff comes second to running our business and being a trainer.

TDN: You have about 120 horses?
CD: About that.

TDN: How many are here?
CD: Just about 25 right now.

Golden Tempo and Cherie DeVaux after the Belmont | Sarah Andrew

TDN: You have had good horses in the past. She Feels Pretty won the Eclipse for champion Turf female last year. Golden Tempo?
CD: He’s a different type of horse. She Feels Pretty was there every single race. He is a horse that we very much had to see the future in and come up with a plan. I am grateful for all horses but when you come up with a plan and say ‘here is the plan: the goal is the Derby and here is how we are going to do it.’ And it actually works out … it’s crazy that it actually happens.

TDN: How many times have you watched the Derby?
CD: Not as many as one would think.

TDN: Less than 10?
CD: No, more than 10. I don’t watch it every day, but I watch it periodically.

TDN: Do you still get chills?
CD:  I just started getting chills. To look at it from the perspective of ‘oh, my goodness, I can’t believe that happened.’ That’s taken awhile to even have an emotional reaction. It was at the Fashionable Fillies Luncheon (Aug. 10). That was the first time I had a reaction to it.

TDN: As soon as Golden Tempo crossed the finish line, winning the Derby, your life changed.
CD: Yes, it did. When I was watching the race, I really couldn’t believe all of that happened. Then he won, and this is our life now.

TDN: Golden Tempo heading to the Travers. Will you feel the pressure?
CD: I don’t feel pressure. I’m excited. I’m anxious to get there. Like I keep saying, I just want the race to be here, not to wish it away. I try not to feel pressure because I feel like that’s going to change me and how I act. Some people can’t handle it. I just try to ignore it and try to do what we do every day that has made us get to the point we are at now.

TDN: Since the Derby to now, have you had eight hours of sleep in a night?
CD: No, most definitely not.

TDN: Did you ever use to?
CD: Once in a while.

TDN: What are you getting by on now?
CD: I try to get at least six hours of sleep. One thing about me is I am disciplined. If we’re at a dinner, it if gets to be 7:30, 8 o’clock then I excuse myself and go home.

Golden Tempo | Coady Media

TDN: I am going to go back to your past for one question, and I am going to mention one name. Chuck Simon (the late trainer, who DeVaux worked for; he died in 2024).
CD: Yep.

TDN: What did he mean to you?
CD: Chuck was my mentor. He cultivated me as a horse person. He was really an integral part to getting me to be an assistant trainer and to give me focus and give me a chance to make mistakes and to learn. When I worked for Chuck, I did everything. I was an exercise rider. I breezed. I groomed when I had to. I’d hot walk when I had to. I got to learn every single part of what we do every day. But he really was the one that honed in my skills and literally gave me focus and changed the path that I was on. He’s a huge part of who I am today.

TDN: I am sure you thought about him a lot even before this crazy run you’ve been on.
CD: For sure. There are a couple of people and he’s one of them that I wish were still alive.

TDN: Travers Day comes. How does your day go? Do anything different?  Any superstitions?
CD: No, I kind of do the same thing. What I struggle with now is when we go to the races. I like to just go to the races, do my own thing. But now there’s just so many fans and people that want your attention. That’s been probably the most difficult landscape to navigate since I’m trying to do my job, trying to have my own mental clarity and try to be a bit of an ambassador to our sport.

TDN: There are a lot of people wherever you go, they want time with you. A picture. An autograph. Something.
CD: It’s very difficult and it’s hard to say no.

TDN: And you don’t want to say no.
CD: The other day, when we were running in the Saratoga Derby, everyone’s coming up and wanting pictures, and I look up and it’s three minutes to post! I felt bad, but I’m overwhelmed. I had to go. Three minutes to post, and I still hadn’t even made it to the clubhouse.

TDN: Being the first woman to win the Kentucky Derby; you’re a history maker. That’s some pretty heavy stuff. How do you deal with that? Because people talk to you about it all the time, like I am doing right now.
CD: It’s something I’m cognizant of. I always thought it would be fun to be the first woman to win the Derby because it’s one of those things where I’m like, we just got to check it off and move on. One of my first quotes in the (Derby) press conference was ‘Thank God I don’t have to answer that question anymore,’ because it just gets to be monotonous. I’m a horse trainer, and I’m a woman. Our sport is one of those that really hasn’t changed. It’s still basically the same sport. Horses run around in a circle. We don’t have different bats. We don’t have different balls. We don’t have different cleats. Horses go around in a circle, and the fastest horse wins. After 152 years, we finally break the mold of what it’s been up to then.

TDN: But it will be like, ‘Cherie Devaux, the first woman to ever win the Kentucky Derby’, … It will probably be like that the rest of your life. Is that okay?
CD: That’s fine. I’ll take it.

Cherie DeVaux at the Derby | Coady Media

TDN: I ask this question to everyone. If there is a movie made about your life and you can pick the actor to play you, who are you picking?
CD: I’m gonna be honest. I don’t really know. If it were the past, I would say Audrey Hepburn because she is one of my favorite people.

TDN: You have five empty stalls in your barn, and you can put five horses from history in them. None of them yours. Who would you put in there?
CD: I would take Lady Eli. Zenyatta. Have to say Rachel Alexandra. Curlin. I remember when he was a 2-year-old. He was in the barn next to me. And Secretariat. Have to say Secretariat.

TDN: You can go out to dinner with three people, living or dead. Who are they?
CD: Chuck (Simon). My grandmother and my grandfather. They have all passed. My grandfather, on his deathbed, said, ‘don’t marry a trainer or a jockey.’ He was in the harness racing business. My grandmother was my biggest cheerleader and Chuck is Chuck.

TDN: Do you have nickname?
CD: My name is hard to say for kids, so I am always Re Re. Aunt Re Re.

TDN: Favorite sport other than horse racing.
CD: Baseball or football. I like any competitive sport.

TDN: Do you have a favorite football team?
CD: No (laughs). I just enjoy watching it, especially live. I enjoy watching any sport live.

TDN: You have won the Derby. You have won the Belmont. What’s the next goal for you?
CD: That’s something I’ve been struggling with. What is the next big thing? I won the Queen Elizabeth II and E.P. Taylor (both with She’s Feels Pretty). Those were two races that we participated in a lot when I worked for Chad (Brown) that I thought would be a lot of fun. I don’t know. It’s fun to have these goals. But it’s a little bit like, ‘what do you do after you win the Derby?’ And I really wasn’t expecting to win the Derby on our first trip there. What do we do now? (smiles).

TDN: When you saw Golden Tempo coming in the Derby, when did you know or think you were going to win it?
CD: I was standing in the winner’s circle and that’s where he came up and put his head in front of Renegade. And I thought, ‘don’t give up now,’ and that was it. Right when he came to Renegade. As soon as he got his head in front, I thought, ‘okay, we’re good.’

TDN: How did you celebrate that night? Anything big?
CD: I put a rose at my barn that I worked at with Chuck, and we went to Jeff Ruby’s. I didn’t get to bed until 1:30 and there was a lot of champagne drunk. There was celebrating and there should have been. And I had to fly to New York (on Sunday) for the ‘Today Show.’ I didn’t get any sleep for like a whole week.

TDN: Do you get recognized now more than ever?
CD: Yes.

TDN: Do you like that?
CD: I struggle with it. I like my space. Not that I don’t think winning the Derby is a big deal but sometimes the way people are excited to meet me … it’s like, I train horses, I didn’t solve world peace. It’s great that people are inspired but for me it’s hard to grasp that concept of where they are coming from or their emotions.

TDN: Somewhere along the way, there must have been little girls that came up to you and said, ‘I want to be you someday.’ That must be pretty cool.
CD: It’s very cool. People have come up and said because I did this, they’re excited for their grandchildren or their kids. It is neat. I preface it with I couldn’t take a compliment to save my life before the Derby and that hasn’t changed. That’s why it is a bit difficult for me to navigate.

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