Kentucky Derby entrant Golden Tempo gets a bath after a workout at Churchill Downs April 27 in Louisville, Ky. (AP file photo)

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Cherie DeVaux knows Saratoga well. She was born in the upstate New York town, and after growing up in Florida, she returned to study at the University of Albany, just a 30-minute drive away.

After two years, DeVaux stopped pursuing a degree and took a chance on her passion for horse racing, where she started as a hot walker for late trainer Chuck Simon. She set her sights on one day being an exercise rider.

On Saturday, DeVaux won’t be crossing Union Avenue as a hot walker, or riding and working them out on the Oklahoma Training Track. Five weeks after becoming the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner, she’ll watch Golden Tempo run in the 158th Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course to close out the Triple Crown.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to get to spend with my family in the build-up and the week of,” DeVaux said. “Getting to spend time with my family, the young ones that don’t get to come to the races — my nieces and nephews — so I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to share what I do with them.”

DeVaux’s Derby celebration went viral as she celebrated with her family. But she was more excited about the victory than the history.

“I just see myself as a horse trainer,” DeVaux said. “I thought winning the Kentucky Derby was an achievable goal at some point in my career. It’s an honor to be the one that is the first female. But that’s not really what my focus is on.”

DeVaux could become the second female trainer to win the Belmont in four years, following Jena Antonucci with Arcangelo in 2023.

Janet Elliot, the only woman to be inducted into the National Horse Racing Hall of Fame as a trainer for her success in steeplechase, watched the Derby and was excited for DeVaux but shared the same sentiment.

“I’m just a trainer,” Elliot said. “I didn’t feel like I was a woman in a man’s sport. I’m just doing my job, and that’s how I came about it.”

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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing