Golden Tempo arrives at Keeneland for Saturday's $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic as one of the race's most accomplished three-year-olds, but trainer Cherie DeVaux knows the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner must still find another level against older rivals. “It's a challenge, it's a tough division,” DeVaux told the Daily Racing Form, while noting that her colt has continued to improve with each start.
The Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable homebred completed his serious preparation Friday with a half-mile in 48.47 seconds over Keeneland's main track, working alongside Commentate and galloping out in 1:01. DeVaux said Golden Tempo kept his head in front of his workmate, looked good and cooled out well. Jose Ortiz was aboard for the move, following an earlier Oct. 16 work in which Golden Tempo covered four furlongs in 48.49 seconds before galloping out strongly.
That steady pattern matters because Golden Tempo has been kept remarkably fresh. After winning the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, he made only one subsequent start, closing to finish third in the Aug. 29 Travers at Saratoga. His record entering the Classic is reported as four wins, no seconds and three thirds, with $4,783,000 in earnings. The long spacing gives DeVaux a credible chance to bring him to Keeneland without the wear associated with a heavily raced three-year-old campaign, while the Travers showed he can sustain a deep-closing effort at the Classic distance.
Golden Tempo also returned to the track Sunday for a light jog in the opposite direction under assistant trainer Enrique Miranda, with the stable expecting him to resume his regular gallop Monday morning. The routine is less about adding fitness now than preserving the colt's edge and ensuring he remains comfortable over the Keeneland surface. Recent reports describe him as fit and focused, and Ortiz's final breeze provided the strongest public evidence yet that the colt is thriving in the final days before the race.
The assignment remains formidable. Expected older competition includes defending champion Forever Young, Whitney winner Sovereignty and multiple Grade 1 winner Magnitude. History offers some encouragement but little room for complacency: according to the Daily Racing Form, only 14 three-year-olds won the Classic in its first 42 runnings, with Sierra Leone the most recent in 2024. Golden Tempo's lightly raced campaign, proven 1 1/4-mile stamina and home-track preparation make him a legitimate threat, but Saturday will reveal whether his three-year-old brilliance can transfer to the deepest older-horse test of the season.