Cody's Wish gave his friend one last amazing ride in the Breeders' Cup

“This kind of struck everybody by lightning.”

That was how Kelly Dorman summarized the story of how an unnamed baby horse put his head in his son’s lap one day in 2019, then grew up to become one of the biggest stars in the world of Thoroughbred racing.

Dorman’s son, Cody, became a star, too, a young man who used a wheelchair to move around and a tablet to communicate because of a rare genetic defect called Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome.

I talked to Kelly Dorman on the phone in August as the Dorman family was making a pit stop in Niagara Falls on the drive from their home in Lexington, Kentucky, to Saratoga Springs to watch the horse named after their son, Cody’s Wish, run in the Whitney at Saratoga Race Course.

Kelly described his son’s brightness and sense of humor, and how he told Gainesborough Farm manager Danny Mulvihill, on the day Cody met the horse who had placed his head in Cody’s lap and would become his namesake, “Man, if he has half the heart Cody has, he’s going to be something else.”

Cody’s Wish surely did that, winning the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita Park on Saturday for the second year in a row, with Cody Dorman and his family in attendance, as they have been for many of Cody’s Wish’s biggest races, including his third-place finish in the Whitney on Aug. 5.

Then they headed back to Lexington, but Cody didn’t make it, suffering what the Dorman family called a “medical event” on the way home that finally was too much for Cody’s body to handle. He died a month shy of his 18th birthday on Sunday, having just watched his best friend win the last race of his career before being retired.

The collection of circumstances behind this whole story and how it unfolded takes some considerable unpacking.

In the BC Dirt Mile, the Bill Mott-trained Cody’s Wish, ridden by Junior Alvarado, used his usual back-of-the-pack running style to set up a dramatic stretch drive to catch front-runner National Treasure.

Need a villain? National Treasure is trained by Bob Baffert, who has enjoyed a spectacular Hall of Fame career, but is also seen by many as the face of cheating in the sport.

There was nothing separating Cody’s Wish and National Treasure as they banged into each other in the final strides, then Cody’s Wish got the slimmest of noses in front at the wire.

The inquiry lights began blinking, and it took the Santa Anita stewards an interminable seven minutes to decide to not disqualify Cody’s Wish and let the outcome stand.

Those who believe in fairy tales let out a deep, deep breath, and the tearful Dorman family rejoiced in the winner’s circle.

Part of their statement on Sunday reads: “On Saturday, Cody watched his best friend, Cody’s Wish, display his usual perseverance and toughness in winning a second Breeders’ Cup. Those are the same characteristics Cody has showed time and again for the 18 years we were blessed to have him.

“We have been completely amazed to experience the impact Cody has had on so many people, through the journey that this wondrous racehorse has taken us all on. From Churchill Downs, to Keeneland, to Saratoga to Santa Anita this weekend, we could not move 20 feet without someone stopping to tell us just that.”

“With Cody’s diagnosis at birth, we always knew this day would come, but we were determined to help Cody live his best life for however long we had him. Anyone who has seen him at the racetrack, especially around Cody’s Wish, understands that in many ways he taught us all how to live, always keeping a positive attitude and being more concerned about those around him than himself.”

Cody Dorman was serving as a Make-a-Wish ambassador at Keeneland in Lexington on the day he met Cody’s Wish for the first time.

It occurred to the Dormans to revisit the horse when Cody was suffering from depression two years later.

“I didn’t want anything to let that spark, that little fire he’s always had, get any dimmer,” Kelly told me this summer. “But we went up I-75 from our house to that training facility with one kid, and when we came back down I-75, we had a completely different kid. He’s been positive . . . it’s like he rebooted everything. Life in general has improved for him.”

In Cody’s obituary, Kelly wrote, “I know if Cody could say one thing, he would want to let everyone know not to cry for him, but to smile for him,” Kelly said.

Cody’s voice is in there, too, as a quote communicated through his tablet in response to Team Cody’s Wish having won the Mr. Fitz Award, presented annually by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association for typifying the spirit of racing.

“I love everyone on the team with all my heart,” Cody said. “They all worked hard to see my wish and their wishes come true.”

“We can’t get over the timing,” Kelly said in the obit. “It’s like Cody was saying, ‘I’ve done everything I can do and it’s time for me to go now.’ I think most people feel that.”

“It’s probably one of the most memorable rides that we’ve all been on, and I think it’s meant so much to so many different people,” Mott said on Saturday after the BC Dirt Mile.

Our natural inclination is to analyze and explain events, to unlock a mystery and understand how and why something happened. We know why lightning strikes during a rainstorm, we can study the conditions and forces at play there.

But sometimes it’s OK to just let a mystery wash over you, and let it be.

As Alvarado said on Saturday after the Dirt Mile, “I just think it had to be this way.”

BC NOTEBOOK

• Within the five Breeders’ Cup races making up Future Stars Friday, there was a three-race winning streak by 2-year-olds who broke their respective maidens at Saratoga first time out.

Just F Y I won the Juvenile Fillies, beating 4-5 betting favorite Tamara in the process; Hard to Justify won the Juvenile Fillies Turf; and Fierceness, ridden by John Velazquez, won the Juvenile for trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Mike Repole.

Just F Y I and Hard to Justify also produced a daily double of 2-year-olds sired by 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify.

But Fierceness’ victory was the highlight last Friday, as he won the Juvenile by 6 1/4 lengths at betting odds of 16–1, after he had been 6-1 on the morning line. Fierceness didn’t run in any of the three graded stakes for juveniles on dirt at Saratoga, but put in one of the most impressive performances of the meet by a 2-year-old, breaking his maiden by 11 1/4 lengths on the Friday of Travers weekend.

He paid $35.00 on a $2 win bet for the highest win price of the 14 BC races on the weekend. Betting favorites won eight of those.

• Irad Ortiz, Jr., was a slam dunk to win his fifth Bill Shoemaker Award as top jockey at the Breeders’ Cup, with wins on Saturday aboard Goodnight Olive in the Filly & Mare Sprint, White Abarrio in the Classic and Elite Power in the Sprint.
• Cody’s Wish topped the final NTRA poll of 2023 for top Thoroughbreds, with 20 of 35 first-place votes. Using a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale, Cody’s Wish finished with 326 points to 307 for White Abarrio, who got 11 first-place votes.

The rest of the top 10, with first-place votes in parentheses, was BC Distaff winner Idiomatic (2), two-time BC Sprint winner Elite Power (1), Up to the Mark (1), Belmont/Travers winner Arcangelo, Goodnight Olive, BC Mile winner Master of the Seas, BC Turf winner Auguste Rodin and BC Filly & Mare Turf winner Inspiral.