SARATOGA SPRINGS — Golden Tempo won the 158th Belmont Stakes on Saturday, completing a rare Kentucky Derby–Belmont Stakes double and becoming one of the few horses in modern racing history to capture two legs of the Triple Crown without competing in the Preakness Stakes.
Ridden by Jose Ortiz and trained by Cherie DeVaux, Golden Tempo surged down the stretch at Saratoga Race Course to hold off Commandment and win the final Triple Crown race of 2026. Renegade, the Kentucky Derby runner-up and Belmont favorite, finished third.
The victory gave Golden Tempo his second major Triple Crown race win after his Kentucky Derby triumph on May 2. The colt did not run in the Preakness Stakes, with DeVaux’s team choosing to skip the middle leg of the series and prepare for the Belmont instead, ending any chance of a traditional Triple Crown sweep.
Golden Tempo’s Belmont win also added another milestone for DeVaux, who became the second woman to train a Belmont Stakes winner and the first female trainer to win two different Triple Crown races with the same horse after the Derby victory.
“It’s so meaningful because the town gets to celebrate along with all of us,” DeVaux said after the race, according to UPI.
The Belmont Stakes, traditionally held at Belmont Park in New York, was staged at Saratoga Race Course while Belmont Park undergoes renovations. The 2026 race marked another chapter in the event’s temporary relocation.
Golden Tempo entered the Belmont field after a Kentucky Derby victory that established DeVaux as the first woman to train a Derby winner. The colt’s decision to skip the Preakness drew attention throughout the Triple Crown season, but DeVaux said the focus remained on the horse’s condition and preparation for the Belmont.
The Belmont Stakes victory confirmed Golden Tempo’s status as the season’s leading three-year-old in terms of Triple Crown race wins, while leaving the 2026 series without a full Triple Crown champion.
The horse’s connections have not announced a next race following the Belmont Stakes, with Golden Tempo’s immediate status remaining focused on recovery and future scheduling decisions.
