Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Cherie DeVaux | Thoroughbred Racehorse Trainer | 05-04-26

Transcript

Cherie DeVaux | Thoroughbred Racehorse Trainer | 05-04-26 · Sid & Friends In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So a couple of years ago, I'm down in South
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Florida doing sports talk radio and I get guy reaches
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: out to me. His name is Doug Seapoo, and he said, Sid, congratulations,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: you're doing a great job down here. We know you're
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the best hockey guy in town. And you know, we
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: just bought the Florida Panthers. My main man, Vinnie Viola,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: and we want you to get involved because we are
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: fans of yours from your days on w f AN
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: radio in New York. I go, oh, that's great, Doug, Yeah,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: thank you. I don't know who VINNI was. I know
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Virtue is a big deal here in New York and
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: everybody on the floor and the stock market knows Vinie,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: but I didn't. But I did meet him very very
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: quickly thanks to Doug Seapoo, and we hit it off
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: going to Florida Panther games. He even flew me with
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: the team on a couple of series when they took
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: on the Rangers, Islanders, and Devils here in New York
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: one weekend with Super Bowl weekend, and we became very
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: very close. Long story short, Vinnie's hockey team, the Florida Panthers,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: have just won the last two Stanley Cups, and now
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: on top of that, Vinnie's horse, Golden Tempo, has just
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: won the Kentucky Derby. I had the favorite a couple
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: of years ago, the horse named Forte, who unfortunately stepped
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: on a pebble the morning of the big race. But
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: this horse, the nineteen horse Golden Tempo, wins the Derby,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: and everybody here in New York in Brooklyn very excited
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: for our dear friend, the great Vinnie Viola. But the
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: story doesn't end there gets even better when you look
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: at his trainer, the first female trainer ever to win
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: the Kentucky Derby. Just a lovely lady. She was great
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: on NBC after the win on Saturday, Shurry Deva. And
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: she is kind enough on this Monday morning, two days
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: after her historic victory to join us on Sidden Friends
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: in the morning, Surry, congratulations on this momentous feat. Thank
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: you so you're welcome. I saw you were really emotional
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: on Saturday, or Adrian there and talking about your husband
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: David and holding the baby and really a family team.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: When you look at what you accomplished on Saturday, and
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: you were quick to thank everybody around you after the victory.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Oh, it takes a village both professionally at the barn,
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: we have a wonderful team and personally, I have a
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: wonderful family that supports me and this life on the
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: race truck is it's not It's something that is hard
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: to conceptualize if you aren't part of it, and really
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: takes the support of my friends, my family, and especially
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: my husband David.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he looks like a super guy. But I want
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: to go back to the gentleman I spoke about as
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: I introduced you, and that is my dear been for
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: so many years. And I guess you bought Vinnie Viola.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: What is it like working with Vinnie with this horse
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: all the way up to the victory on Saturday.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Well, Vinnie's been wonderful. He really is his hands off,
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: He his his racing, head of racing. His Monique Delk
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: and Mony.
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: Candles the the day to day.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: Communications and you know, any questions that I have and
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: and she and Vinnie talk about his stable regularly.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: Vinnie obviously has a lot, a lot on his plate, so.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: You know, he's he's got other things. But him and
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Monique run the stable and I think they're a fantastic team,
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: and Vinnie is I commend him because during during my
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: time working with him and Golden Tempo, the horse has
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: always come first and there's never any pressure and that
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: just makes it a joy to work with a team
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: like that.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Oh, you're right about that. He was so upset when
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: fort they stepped on a pebble. Some said race, He said, no, no, no,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: I Am not going to take a chance. He loves
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: the horses, and of course he's a very very big
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: deal up here in sarah Toga comes summertime. Whether it's
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Bill Parcells or Mike Branceso or Rick Patino, there is
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Vinnie two. When this is an amazing story when you
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: consider that you Suy, you the big champ today. You
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: are from there, right, you grew up in Saratoga Springs.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: Well, I have to negate that a little bit because
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: I was born in Saratoga, but which is quite cold
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: in the winter time. And I tell everyone that my
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: formidable years were spent growing up on the beaches in.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: Florida because I do not like being cold.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: I don't like all the snow. And that's what always
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: comes up is you're from Saratoga, and I'm like, no,
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: I like the beach. That's my jam.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: Oh, I don't blame you. I also lived in Boca
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Ratone for sixteen years and I can't stand the cold either.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: It's getting horder for me now. Just turn fifty nine
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: and the New York winters are getting horder for me.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: So Fips Stable Saint Elias Stable? Are they both in Florida?
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: Well, the Phipps Stable is based out of Kentucky. The
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: six family has been influential part of their bread racing history,
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: and I do believe they're they're based. A lot of
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: the family lives in New York City and surrounding areas.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: And Daisy, who is my contact again and I've known
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: Daisy for years, is from Lexington.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Got it? And uh but Saint Elias that's down south.
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: Right, It's correct?
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Vinnie and.
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: Teresa they travel a lot, so but I do believe.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Their home base of operations is in Florida.
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  Speaker 1: This is uh sure devout. She just trained Golden Tempo
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  Speaker 1: to a Kentucky Derby Wynn on Saturday, first female trainer
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: to ever do that and being celebrated all over the
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: country today as she should be. Tell me about his
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: workouts and what he look like leading up to this race,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: even that morning little trot there, did you did you
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: have a lot of competence that this horse really could
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: win the Kentucky Derby. Let's not forget the horse went
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: up at twenty three to one. Nice payday by the way,
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: forty eight dollars, But were you competent based on the
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: workouts before the race and even Saturday morning? This horse
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: is going to do what it actually did.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: Most definitely, Golden Tempo is interesting as far as handicappers
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: go and and what handicappers see on the form as opposed.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: To what might be going on behind the scenes.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: So Golden Tempo is not He wasn't the most precocious.
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: Cult he's he always looked like he.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: Was going to get better with time, maturity and with racing.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: And he's a true classic distance horse, you know, mile
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: and a quarter. So after Golden Tempo won the Lacomte,
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: which was his first Derby prep race, the team and
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: I spoke that he was a horse that's going to
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: be in development and we needed to have him speaking
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: on Derby Day, not.
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: The races before.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: So as long as the horse was.
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: Continuing to improve, as long as.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: He was standing up the training and his speed figures
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: were going in the right direction. We were going to
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: keep the bigger picture in mind and not focus so
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: much on each individual race leading up to the Derby.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: And he he if you could write it in a script.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: He followed the script.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Perfectly, he really did. And your jockey Jose Ortez, what
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: a great day showy for the Tz brothers. Yo jockey
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: Jose wins the race. His brother he rode his horse
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: running Gate comes in second. I'm not sure there's ever
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: been a Derby where brothers finished one too, probably not. Hooise, also,
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: by the way, became one of maybe a dozen jockeys
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: ever to win now every leg of the Chriple Crown.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: I heard you talking about the Tez brothers, specifically your
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: jockey Jose, saying I know him since he's like a
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: little kid. How about HO say you what's what he
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: did on Saturday?
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  Speaker 3: Oh?
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  Speaker 2: Most definitely. I have to give a lot of credit
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: to Jose, and I have. I've known both i Read
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: and Jose since they first moved their tack to New
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: York and in their early twenties, and Jose has has
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: been an integral part of our stables growth in the
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: last couple of years he was based in New.
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: York and Florida, and he decided to come to Kentucky and.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: Then subsequently went down to fair Grounds and he he's.
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: He's put a lot of work into.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: Not just Golden Tempo, but a lot of other runners
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: in our stable. He's got a vested interest and it
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: doesn't matter. Golden Tempo is a it is top echelon
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: of horses, but even in developing our babies, he's he's out,
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: he's working hard, and and he did he he had
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: all the faith in Golden Tempo. I'm sure he had
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: the opportunity to ride other horses that seemed to be
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: a little bit better of a choice at the time,
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: but he's stuck through and really had.
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: Chilled loyalty to our sable and we so much appreciate that.
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: And what about the tactic he used, You know, the horse,
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: the nineteen horse. Obviously you nineteen post positions, so you
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: start on the outside, the fact that he's in dead last,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: dead last. Sure, I'm watching this thing, and Boom gets
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: to the outside and makes that unbelievable stretch run to
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: win the race. What do you think about the way
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: Jose ran the race.
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: Well again, if you could write it on paper, he
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: executed it perfectly. Golden tempo is a deep closer, and.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: By nature of that, you're.
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: The rider is going to make the difference in the
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: race as long as the horse shows up. So the
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: one thing that's good about a horse's running style like
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: him is as long as in the.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: Strut run you don't get in trouble, you're really not
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: the sick of things. You know, Horses get tired and
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: they're backing up into you, or horse they're trying to
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: move forward and you get bumped around. Well, he's so
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: far out of it that none of that is a
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: factor in his running of the race. So Jose, you know,
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: we we spoke about it at length throughout the week.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: We don't want to try to change his running style.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: It's effective for him, you know, so just and having
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: an outside post is actually to our advantage so that
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: the horses can run away from him and he just
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: can save ground and get on the rail. Now, I
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: will say it was a nailbiter going around the first
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: turn when he was so far out of it, and
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: I haven't even had the time to even look at
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: a chart to see how far back he was, but
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: it was nearly a pirl long, it seemed, and you know,
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: Jose just timed it perfectly. He saved all the ground
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: the first turn, he got himself in position going around
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: the second turn and just went in the clear and
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: the horse responded and Golden Tempo.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Responded amazing too. Or we'll let you run here again.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: This is sure the vote. You just trained Golden Tempo
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: to a Kentucky Derby win out a Vinie Viola stable.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: I love that, Vinian Teresa. I do want to ask
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: you about the big story, which is you're a woman. Wow,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: and you're the first female. I know you're the first
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: female trainer. I love all that stuff. You break glass
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: ceilings and you know, folks are the first to do anything.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: Certainly should be celebrated and recognized. But were you celebrating
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: the fact that you're the first woman to win the
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: derby on Saturday or the fact that your horse just
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: won the derby on Saturday?
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: I definitely celebrated that I'm a horse trainer and the
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: horse won, Golden Tempo won the derby. Female trainers are
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: underrepresented in the sport, but I it's hard for me
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: to think of myself as you know, breaking a glass
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: ceiling or going out, going out and being you know,
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: and I con for females.
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: You know, that is hard for me to conceptualize because
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: it's not I've.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: Never made my gender part of my identity as horse trainer.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: But you are and you deserve it. You may not
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: feel that way, and I know your sister Adrian, by
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: the way, is married to a trainer too. He's retired.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: So on the way out, you are all those things.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: I know it seems weird for you, but you deserve
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: all the recognition and attention you're getting today. On the
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: way out, the big question is, you know, we've got
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: the Belmont in Saratoga this year. As they we build
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: the track, it's back at the Belmont next year. And
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: there's nothing more exciting, as you know, Shari, than having
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: a chance at a horse at winning the Triple Crown.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: But we've seen examples or a horse that win the
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: Kentucky Derby and not race in the Preakness a couple
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: of weeks later. Everybody wants to know will Golden Tempo
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: race in two weeks.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: Well, at Golden Tempo, decide that, you know, it's kind
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: of hard, he needs every bit of distance as shown
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: in the race to win out a mile and a quarter,
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: and we have to put the horse first. So we're
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: going to see how he comes out of the race,
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: see how he's training, how his.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: Energy is, and you know, and then we'll talk.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: About whether we want to take the chance or not.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: You know, he's just unique in the fact that he
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: is a true classic distance horse that needs all the
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: ground and shortening up in the Preakness will definitely be
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: a key part of that discussion on whether we do
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: enter and run in the pretense.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: And done one. Usually would you make that call over
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: the next week? I guess yeah.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: So typically our horses get about a week of easy
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: training and kind of towards the end of that week.
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: We'll start talking. You know, we'll try to make a
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: decision so we can let everybody know what our plans are.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: Got it, Well, listen, you're a sweet, sweet, sweet woman.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: You're really on. You're great, and now you've won the
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Kentucky Derby and all these amazing things are happening for you,
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: and like I said, you deserve it. I love the
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: fact that you was with your family and it's just
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: great watching you on Saturday. It really was so Surey
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: congratulations couldn't hop into a nice little lady and good
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: luck with Golden Temple and whatever horse you've got moving forward.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for doing this.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me on.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Appreciate it all right, Sweitty, take care as she is.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: Surey Devo and horse Golden Tempo just won the Derby.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: We'll take a short break more of the Monday edition
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: of Sitting Friends in the Morning right after these words.
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: Thanks for listening to Sit in and Friends in the Morning.
• 14:31
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• 14:33
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• 14:36
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• 14:53
  Speaker 4: time for a new episode, so you never have to
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: wonder what the heck
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: Is going on here.