Is it Brittany Russell's turn?
Brittany Russell with her daughter Edy. “I'm just glad I don't have to answer that question anymore. ” The moments after the Kentucky Derby year-to-year are largely the same, regardless of the connections: a massive celebration worthy of the moment; a mad dash to the winner’s circle to celebrate; and then the long walk to the Churchill Downs media center for the post-race press conference.
Jim Mulvihill was the moderator this year, and after asking a series of questions about the race itself, he finally asked what all of us wanted to: “Cherie, you know that a lot of the stories are going to lead with the fact that you are the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner. “What's your reaction to that? ” Cherie responded quickly, and with the utmost confidence: “I'm just glad I don't have to answer that question anymore.
” The room filled with applause, both from female and male onlookers. It’s impossible to tell Kentucky Derby 152 winner Golden Tempo’s story without mention to a trio of significant female actors: trainer Cherie DeVaux; owner and Phipps Stable racing manager Daisy Phipps Pullito; and St. Elias racing manager Monique Delk.
If this were a forensic investigation, the police would find nothing but women’s fingerprints. Trainer Cherie DeVaux after winning Kentucky Derby 152. Photo credit: Matt Stone, Louisville Courier-Journal.
18 UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS 17 women had sent a horse to the Kentucky Derby starting gate prior to Cherie DeVaux’s successful run with Golden Tempo, with Shelley Riley coming closest to winning the Garland of Roses - Casual Lies finished 2nd in the 1992 Derby to Lil E Tee and Pat Day. Vicki Oliver was the most recent woman to send a horse to the starting gate in the Kentucky Derby, when Hidden Stash pieced together enough finishes in the money to qualify in 2021. I asked Oliver if she felt any particular pressure as a female trainer ahead of the Derby in 2021.
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