basically, because I am one!
So if you’ve been anywhere on social media, read a newspaper ( do they still exist?) or watched the news on TV since Saturday, May 2, you’ve seen something about the 152-year running of the KENTUCKY DERBY,
The winner was a long shot named Golden Tempo who, LITERALLY, came out of last place to win the race. If you watched it, were you like me? Screaming at the TV “Go! GO! GO!” and then crying when you found out everything about this horse and his trainer?
It’s 4 days later and I still cry whenever I see footage of the race, the trainer’s reaction, and the interview with the jockey after his winning ride. I’m starting to tear up writing this!
Cherie DeVaux, Golden Tempo’s trainer, is the first female trainer to win a KD. The first. She was brought on to be a trainer by the owner of the horse, who is also a woman, Daisy Phipps. Daisy is related to the first woman who ever owned her own stables and produced a generation of winning horses. This win was very female-centric in a sport…that is not.
The jockey who rode him, Jose Ortiz, is a seasoned veteran of horse races. He knew what was inside GT’s soul; that he had the heart of a champion and the legs to match it, and he let the horse prove himself to the world. That, my friends, is a genius move.
Before the race began, Golden Tempo had odds of something like 56-1 because he’d lost his last 2 races. No one, other than Cherie, Ortiz, and GT’s groom, Jose Hernandez, had any expectations for this horse.
And you know what? I simply love that.
Why?
Because all my life I’ve rooted for underdogs; the one nobody believes in; the one people scoff at and say lacks potential; the one who will never amount to anything; will never win. I am not the person who jumps on the bandwagon and praises, dances, and espouses anything or anyone who is popular, or the flavor of the moment. Routinely, I back dark horses in political races, listen to music by artists BEFORE the world makes them popular, and read books by authors who are not bestsellers and publicly well known outside the reading community.
These are my people. Why, you ask? Because they are the faceless, hardworking, nose-to-the-grindstone individuals who are toiling daily to make their lives and the lives of others better. Only a nameless few support them and root for them, but those nameless ( to the world) few, are the reason they toil so hard; they are their impetus to keep going when they don’t believe in themselves; their motivation to keep on keeping on.
Underdogs are not typically popular. Hence, the name, underdog: “a competitor thought to have little chance of winning a fight or contest; a person who has little status in society.” ~ Webster’s Dictionary
Golden Tempo was not considered a winner on Saturday, May 2, at post time. The odds placed on him prove that. 2 minutes after the startbell dinged, the gate opened, and the horses began pummeling the turf, the world learned he was.
Golden Tempo is, in the very basic sense of the word, an underdog.
I am one, too.
My entire life, people have underestimated me. Because I was fat as a child, relatives and bullies would tell me I didn’t matter and would never get far in life because of my weight. Because of the scars on my face from my accident, my own father told me I would never be rich and famous unless I got them fixed. Because I was always considered the smart, nerdy, fat girl in school, my peers ( and I use the word very loosely) said I’d never find a guy to love me.
Did all that hurt? Damn straight it did.
Did I let it stop me from succeeding in life? Not even a little.
When I decided I wanted a writing career after entering my 50s, people told me it was a pipe dream. I was too old, had nothing to say that anyone wanted to read, and was just setting myself up for failure. When I told my husband the moment I got a publishing contract i was quitting me job, he said, “Okay,” with a face and tone that toldme he thought I’d be working forever.
The moment I got a publishing contract, I reminded him I was quitting, and he said, “Wait…what?”
Being underestimated- and by virtue an underdog – has been my motivation to succeed in life.
And I think I’ve done pretty well so far.
Go watch a replay of the Kentucky Derby 2026 if you need any kind of motivation to keep on keeping on despite what people believe about you. Trust me: you will think about your life very differently.
Peggy Jaeger, Author 