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Golden Tempo gets golden trip in the Lecomte, Fair Grounds Photo
Fair Grounds Press
NEW ORLEANS – Trained by Cherie DeVaux, Golden Tempo rallied from the back to prevail by less than a length over stablemate Mesquite in a thrilling edition of the Grade 3 $250,000 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. The Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable homebred banked 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
The main track favored speed throughout the card, amplifying Golden Tempo’s late heroics, as the Curlin colt covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.98 under jockey Jose Ortiz.
“Sometimes as a rider, you get your hands tied,” Ortiz said. “I knew that track was playing forward but if I have a horse like him, that doesn’t have early speed, what can you do?”
Golden Tempo broke a beat slow as Crown the Buckeye shot out to the lead, clicking through early fractions of :23.72 and :47.11, with Carson Street and Chip Honcho in hot pursuit. After traveling midpack along the rail early, Mesquite was positioned wide on the backstretch. Still last heading into the far turn, Golden Tempo soon began passing rivals around the bend before spying an opening on the rail. As Carson Street and Chip Honcho bid past a fading Crown the Buckeye in midstretch, Golden Tempo and Mesquite surged, flanking that pair, but it was Golden Tempo who struck the front the wire first. Mesquite nailed Carson Street by a neck. Chip Honcho held for fourth, while Quality Mischief rallied late for fifth.
“When Jose started picking him up, I was a little worried with him being inexperienced that he was making his move on the inside,” DeVaux said. “He did idle a little bit but then he came back on nicely.”
Golden Tempo entered the Lecomte with just one race of experience, having similarly circled the field to win his six-furlong debut on the Gun Runner undercard in December.
“The horse broke a little slow like he did the first time,” Ortiz said. “I was just very patient. I followed Mesquite until the 3/8th pole, he went outside and I went inside. Luckily I got an opening and the horse did the rest. I’m very impressed. I was a little bit worried because you never know how a horse is going to react going two turns for the first time and he was facing stakes horses for the first time.”
With 20 points, Golden Tempo sits second behind Ted Noffey on the 2026 Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. Mesquite earned 10 points, while Carson Street collected six. Chip Honcho added four points and now sits fifth with 14 points following his Gun Runner victory. Quality Mischief doubled his Derby total to four points after finishing fourth in the Gun Runner.
Golden Tempo paid $7.40, $4.20 and $3.40. Mesquite returned $4.80 and $3.80, while Carson Street paid $6.80.
Bred in Kentucky, Golden Tempo is by Curlin out of the Bernardini mare Carrumba. He is now 2-for-2 with earnings of $183,000.
The next stop on Fair Grounds’ Road to the Derby is the Grade 2 Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes, to be contested Saturday, Feb. 15, when Kentucky Derby points increase to 50-25-15-10-5.
