A special horse provided a perfect Hollywood ending in Keeneland, USA, at the Breeders’ Cup Meeting on 5 November. Godolphin’s record-breaking fourth winner at the 2022 meeting, Cody’s Wish in the Dirt Mile under Junior Alvarado, was a tear-jerker that captured the hearts of those watching in person and at home.
Bill Mott’s colt is named after a teenager with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, who struck up a connection with the horse as a foal, Cody Dorman. Cody went with his parents Kelly and Leslie, plus his sister Kylie, to Godolphin’s Gainsborough Farm where he was introduced to a six-month-old weanling by stud farm manager Danny Mulvihill.
“We had 40-odd foals on the farm and we could have chosen any one of them for Cody to meet,” says Danny. “What happened from there was special. The foal came up to Cody and put his head in his lap.”
Cody’s condition means that he has undergone “40 to 50 procedures” during his life so far. “But the hardest thing we’ve watched him go through is depression,” says Leslie.
So, to lift Cody’s spirits, his parents decided to take Cody back to visit the foal they first met at Gainsborough Farm two years previously.
“The horse kept pulling until he was right in front of Cody,” says Danny. “It was like the horse knew who was there to see him.”
“I can count on one hand the number of times Cody has belly laughed and he did it that day,” says Leslie. “From that day on, Cody completely changed.”
When it came to his performance on the racecourse, Cody’s Wish didn’t win any of his first three races.
“Cody said ‘Cody’s Wish won’t win until I’m there in person’, and sure enough [the day Cody was there] he won,” says Kelly.
Cody’s Wish has now won seven of his last eight races, beaten only by a length into second in the other, and has clocked up almost £1m in prize money.
Cody’s Wish and Junior Alvarez after winning the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile
When Cody, who speaks through a machine, is asked why he thinks he has a bond with Cody’s Wish, his answer is simple: “Because he found me and he hasn’t forgotten me. He has always looked for me – we have the same heart and drive, and we never give up.
“He always makes me smile and I love it when we get to hang out together – thank you Cody’s Wish – you are a very special horse and a very special friend.”
Kelly says that the change in Cody since meeting this horse is remarkable.
“He now laughs and hugs me – it’s been amazing. The doctors told us he would only live two years when he was born and now he’s getting ready to turn 17.”
“I think that horse has the legs Cody wasn’t given,” says Leslie.
Cody holding the winner’s wreath after Cody’s Wish won the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile
“It’s been an unbelievable story from the get-go when Cody Dorman first met Cody’s Wish as just a foal in the barn,” Godolphin’s US representative Michael Banahan told H&H’s Marcus Armytage. “And they developed this bond seemingly. He saw him a year-and-a-half later and we were worried about him being a rambunctious, strong two-year-old, dealing with him at that stage. But the horse put his head down in his lap. We were all surprised about that.
“It just seemed they had a connection. The Dormans came out last Wednesday and Bill had the horse out with Cody Dorman as well. He got down, nosed at him as well. It seems like he knows who Cody Dorman is and to have this little relationship with each other – he’s just a special horse for the family, for us, and it’s just like a Hollywood story. It’s hard to script.”
The emotional scenes at Keeneland were captured on TV and streamed around the world. There was also a preview published by NBC Sports which showed the incredible bond between four-year-old Cody’s Wish and 16-year-old Cody.
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