Golden Tempo Family Lineage

Penny Chenery (standing in for her father) received the Meadow Stable trophy at Saratoga in 1968.

May 9, 2026

After last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, I had the great pleasure and honor of congratulating the ownership connections of Golden Tempo and trainer Cherie DeVaux.  As we shook hands, she said, “Your mother paved the way for me.” I wish Mom could have heard those moving words in person.

Since that night, I’ve been reflecting further.  Ms. DeVaux is not the first to give Penny Chenery accolades for her pathfinding role for women in thoroughbred racing.  Many have also pointed out the presence of a “double dose” of Secretariat – and a sprinkling of Riva Ridge -- in Golden Tempo’s bloodline.  But the interwoven strands of mentorship and support extend much further back, over decades and generations, to the days when Ogden Phipps, Bull Hancock, and Chris Chenery were friends and rivals in their shared quest for a Kentucky Derby win. 

My grandfather had to wait nearly 40 years until—hospitalized with Alzheimer’s and unable to speak—he acknowledged Riva Ridge’s 1972 victory by mutely shedding tears.  Odgen Phipps never saw a Derby win.  The Phipps colors, first raced in 1926, did not reach the Derby winner’s circle until Jose Ortiz so brilliantly bore them this year.  The Hancocks’ Claiborne Farm, of course, has bred and managed the stud careers of many Derby winners, including Riva Ridge and Secretariat. But only one winner has borne the Claiborne colors—1984’s Swale.

The Phipps and Hancock families were instrumental mentors for Penny when she took over Meadow Stable, and they continued to be invaluable supporters as she navigated the victories that they had all so long sought, and retired her champions to stud.  Mom loved to recount the first time she stood in for her father to receive a Meadow Stable trophy at Saratoga in 1968.  The presenter was Mrs. Ogden – Lillian -- Phipps.  Mom whispered, “What do I do now, Mrs. Phipps? Do I take it back to the box?”

“No, dear,” Lillian whispered back.  “They’ll send it to you.” 

Now the story has come full circle, with a horse the Phipps family bred, the Hancock family raised, and Cherie DeVaux trained. Like Secretariat, Golden Tempo raced from last to first, guided by a masterful jockey. Mom would have been proud to hear that she played a role in Ms. Devaux’s rise to success. And she would have been the first to acknowledge that lineage of forbears, male and female, who played crucial roles in hers. May their descendants bask in their hard-earned victory today.  

©John Tweedy