Stay Ready Stories: The Part People Miss

Dead Last

May 3, 2026. Churchill Downs. The 152nd Kentucky Derby.

Eighteen horses. One hundred and fifty-two years of history. And three-quarters of a mile in, Golden Tempo was dead last.

Not second to last. Not trailing the pack. Dead. Last.

Every expert had already written the ending. Every commentator had moved on. The odds were 23-1 against. The cameras were pointed at the front of the field. Nobody was watching the back.

And that is where this story lives.

Not at the finish line. Not in the roar. Not in the confetti or the roses. It lives in the moment when the whole world decided it was over — and one horse, one jockey, and one trainer refused to agree.

Golden Tempo. Dead last at three-quarters. Still running. That is the whole story.

The Woman Who Bet on Herself

Cherie DeVaux was not supposed to be here.

She was on a premed track in college. Safe path. Predictable future. The kind of life people nod at and say, Smart choice.

But in 2017, she walked away from it. She bet on herself. Changed careers entirely. To train horses.

Not as a hobby. As a life.

She spent six years working for trainer Chuck Simon. Learning from the ground. Then eight years as an assistant to Chad Brown — one of the best in the business. Fifteen years of showing up before anyone knew her name. Fifteen years of doing the work when nobody was watching.

She got her own trainer license in 2018. Built her stable. Earned her wins. And on May 3, 2026, she became the first woman in 152 years to train a Kentucky Derby winner.

One hundred and fifty-two years of history said it could not be done.

She did not argue with the history. She just showed up and rewrote it.

After the race, someone asked her what she felt in that moment. She said she kind of blacked out. That is what happens when everything you have poured into something finally arrives. You do not celebrate. You just stand there. Because the weight of it is bigger than words.

Every next level of your life will demand a different you. — Unknown

Cherie DeVaux became a different version of herself. Not once. Over and over. Premed student. Stable worker. Assistant trainer. Head trainer. History maker. Every level demanded more. She paid it. Every time.

Fifteen years before the roses. The work nobody saw.

Run Your Own Race

Here is what Golden Tempo did not do.

It did not panic. It did not look at the seventeen horses ahead and decide the race was over. It did not try to be the fastest out of the gate. It did not run anyone else's race.

It found its stride. It waited. And when the moment came, it charged. From the very back. Through the entire field. To win by a neck over Renegade at the wire. In 2:02.07.

They called it a miracle. But it was not a miracle. It was a horse that ran its own race. At its own pace. And finished stronger than anything on that track.

That is the lesson.

Do not compare your pace to anyone else's. Do not look at where everyone else is and decide you are too far behind. Your comeback does not have to look like anyone else's. It just has to be yours.

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. — Confucius

Golden Tempo did not stop. It did not care about the odds. It did not care about the cameras pointing somewhere else. It just kept running. And when it mattered most, it had more left than anyone expected.

It did not run anyone else's race. Neither should you.

This Is Your Derby

I watched that race and I saw something familiar.

Not horses. People.

I saw every person who has ever been told their window had closed. Every person who is stiff, sore, and starting over. Every person who tried a program, fell off, and heard that voice say, See? You cannot do this anymore.

That voice is the same one that counted out Golden Tempo at the three-quarter mark. The same one that told Cherie DeVaux she was crazy for leaving premed. The same one that has been telling people for 152 years that certain things are not possible.

That voice is wrong.

The race is not over just because you are behind. Your body is not done just because it hurts. Your story is not finished just because you stumbled. You are not too late.

What Golden Tempo proved is what we have been saying at PhenixFitt from the beginning: it is not about where you start. It is about whether you keep going. It is about having the heart to push when everything says stop. It is about being ready for the moment — even when the moment seems impossible.

That is Stay Ready.

Not perfect. Not first out of the gate. Not the favorite. Just ready. For whatever comes. For however long it takes. For the charge nobody sees coming.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. — Winston Churchill

Your Charge Starts Now

Cherie DeVaux spent fifteen years preparing for one moment. Golden Tempo spent an entire race running from dead last. Neither of them quit. Neither of them listened to the odds.

You do not have to win the Kentucky Derby. You just have to stop telling yourself the race is over.

Build the body that carries you through real life. Not because it is easy. Because it is yours. Nobody else is going to run your race for you. And the comeback — your comeback — is still on the table.

It does not matter if you are last right now. It matters that you are still running.

If you are ready to stop watching from the back and start charging, come train with us.

Visit phenixfitt.com. Call 833-308-1776. Read more at the Stay Ready Blog at crayknowles.com/blog.

Not first. Not fast. Just still running. That is enough.

One Life. Stay Ready. — C. Ray