Golden Tempo is among the horses expected to run in the 2026 Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.
The post-position draw for the Breeders’ Cup is set for Monday, Oct. 26. Post time for the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic is set for 6:16 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.
Golden Tempo will enter the Breeders’ Cup Classic off a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Travers on Aug. 29 at Saratoga.
Golden Tempo
Age: 3.
Color: Bay.
Bred in: Kentucky.
Sire: Curlin.
Dam: Carumba, by Bernardini.
Price tag: Homebred.
Owners: Phipps Stable (Daisy Phipps Pulito) and St. Elias Stable (Vincent Viola).
Trainer: Cherie DeVaux.
Jockey: Jose Ortiz.
Record: 4-0-3 in seven starts.
Career earnings: $4,783,000.
Record at Keeneland: First start.
Previous Breeders’ Cup races: None.
Last race: Third in Grade 1 Travers on Aug. 29 at Saratoga.
Running style: Closer.
Notes: Golden Tempo will look to become the fifth horse to win the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic in the same year. The others were Authentic (2020), American Pharoah (2015), Unbridled (1990) and Sunday Silence (1989). … DeVaux will look to become the second female trainer to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Kathy Ritvo won with Mucho Macho Man in 2013. … While this will be Golden Tempo’s first race at Keeneland, the horse is based at the Lexington track and has posted weekly breezes there since Sept. 18.
What they’re saying: “Golden Tempo has to move forward, and he’s done that in every race, even in defeat in the Travers,” DeVaux said. “He didn’t regress on speed figures, so he’s going to have to continue that. That just comes with racing and age and condition. He’s not reached his top, and all signs point that he’s continuing in that trajectory.”
Jason Frakes: (502) 582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Golden Tempo horse, trainer, jockey for 2026 Breeders’ Cup Classic
