Cody's Wish wraps up storybook career with Dirt Mile cliffhanger

Arcadia, Calif.

Every great storybook ending needs a cliffhanger to set it up.

Cody’s Wish provided both on Saturday at Santa Anita, making a dramatic stretch run to narrowly defeat Preakness winner National Treasure in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile for the second year in a row and then surviving a stewards’ inquiry over deep-stretch bumping.

The victory by the 4-5 favorite culminated an amazing ride for the connections, trainer Bill Mott, jockey Junior Alvarado and owner-breeder Godolphin, as well as the family of his namesake Cody Dorman, a17-year-old boy battling a rare genetic syndrome. Godolphin named the colt after Dorman in 2018 after the two bonded during a visit by the Dorman family to the Keeneland backstretch arranged through the Make A Wish Foundation.

Cody’s Wish, a 5-year-old son of Curlin out of the Tapit mare Dance Card, now will be retired to Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky., to commence a career at stud next year. Breeding fees have not yet been announced.

Asked at the post-race news conference whether the moment trumped the many highlights of his Hall of Fame training career, Mott described it as either “the best or a dead heat,” presumably referring to the great Cigar’s 16-race winning streak.

“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,” he said.

The final minutes of that ride were not without drama.

The Bob Baffert-trained National Treasure was rushed to the lead from his outside post by jockey Flavien Prat at the outset of the race, stalked by Skippylongstocking and Shirl’s Bee through fractions of 46.02 seconds and 1:09.78. Cody’s Wish, meanwhile, was sixth of seven, more than eight lengths behind the front-runner.

National Treasure pulled away from Skippylongstocking and a tiring Shirl’s Bee turning for home, opening a 2 1/2-length lead as Cody’s Wish split horses and mounted a rally near the inside to move into third.

Alvarado shifted Cody’s Wish to the outside leaving the quarter pole and continued to cut into National Treasure’s margin until drawing abreast of the front-runner inside the furlong marker.

After putting his head in front, Cody’s Wish shifted inward and bumped a stubborn National Treasure twice as they dueled to the wire, eventually prevailing by a slim nose in 1:35.97. Skippylongstocking held on for third, 3 3/4 lengths farther back and six lengths clear of fourth-place finisher Charge It.

The inquiry light went up about 90 seconds later and announcer Frank Mirahmadi informed the crowed that the stewards were reviewing the stretch run, drawing a chorus of “oh nos” from Cody’s Wish backers in the crowd. Cheers erupted five minutes later, when the light went out and Mirahmadi announced there would be no change.

Alvarado said he was not concerned about a potential DQ during the review.

“Right when I got next to National Treasure, I know he kind of came out and tried to meet with my horse,” he said. “… I just think at that point where he’s brushing my horse, I had the bigger horse and the mean horse probably.

“(I was) trying to keep him straight, but like I said at that point I think my horse was feeling a bit of a fight and he tried to go right after the other horse.

“But I knew it was nothing really to change the outcome. My horse was already in front and … was never going to let that horse go by again.”

The winner returned $3.60 on a $2 win bet and keyed a $7.20 payout on a $1 exacta.

Cody Dorman’s father Kelly provided an emotional coda at the post-race news conference, saying it was impossible for him to describe how much the horse and the experience had meant to his son and his legions of well-wishers.

“It’s a blessing. … I don’t even know if I could even start to describe,” he said. “In a lot of ways, I think that horse probably saved Cody’s life in a lot of ways. I know him and the horse has made a lot of lives better.

“The next blessing is all the people we got to meet, like these guys sitting right here, the fans, the entire horse racing nation has been incredible to us. We’re so thankful and grateful for that.”