As soon as upon a time, there was a boy and a horse, and collectively, they made magic occur. The bond between people and horses is a timeless one, dropped at life on the web page and display by Alec and the Black Stallion or Velvet and the Pie. Every brings out one thing particular within the different, that connection serving to them notice the perfect in themselves.
When Cody Dorman met a younger weanling by Curlin, nobody might have predicted what would occur in that second and the years after. The wordless connection between the 2 fueled the story of a boy and his Breeders’ Cup champion.
A Lovely Starting
A daughter of influential stallion Tapit, Dance Card had her personal notable racing profession, successful the Grade 1 Gazelle Stakes at 3 earlier than ending third within the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Dash at Santa Anita Park the next season. After her racetrack days, she moved on to broodmare life, and on Could 3, 2018, Dance Card delivered her fourth foal, a bay colt by Curlin, the Corridor of Famer and two-time Horse of the Yr.
With a diamond of white on his brow, this latest foal was considered one of greater than 40 born at Godolphin’s Gainsborough Farm in Central Kentucky, however one fortuitous second would make Dance Card’s colt way more.
Yearly, the Make-A-Want Basis companions with Keeneland Race Course, sharing a VIP expertise with the households of critically unwell kids. In 2018, the Dorman household was matched with Godolphin for that 12 months’s version, which included an opportunity for folks Kelly and Leslie, son Cody, and daughter Kylie to go to the breeder-owner’s Gainsborough Farm in Versailles. Born with the genetic dysfunction Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, Cody Dorman was unable to stroll or speak however communicated by a pill and cherished watching horse racing along with his household. Throughout their go to to Gainsborough, farm supervisor Danny Mulvihill introduced out Dance Card along with her 5-month-old Curlin foal, a quiet and laid-back colt that he thought was the proper match for the assembly.
What got here subsequent was the beginning of a narrative that has touched the hearts of thousands and thousands all over the world. The younger foal sniffed Cody after which laid his head within the younger man’s lap to the astonishment of these current. The bond the 2 fashioned throughout that assembly was evident once more when the Dormans visited in 2020. Because the world wrestled with the COVID-19 pandemic, Cody had fallen right into a deep despair; involved, his dad and mom reached out to Godolphin, who inspired the household to go to the farm. They introduced out the identical younger horse, who pulled on his lead till allowed to face subsequent to the boy. That assembly helped carry Cody out of his despair and impressed Godolphin to call the then-2-year-old colt Cody’s Want.
A Boy and a Horse
Despatched to coach Invoice Mott, Cody’s Want was unraced at 2 and made his first begin as a 3-year-old in June 2021. Jockey Junior Alvarado, who was aboard for a lot of the horse’s 16 begins, remembers that first race as a studying expertise for the colt: “From the half-mile pole, I bear in mind asking him to go, [but] he was not responding. Impulsively, he simply turned on this monster flip of foot; I had a wall in entrance of me, so I had nowhere to go. He was throwing his head, getting upset that I’m stopping him. I put him on the surface and began asking him once more, however it was already too late.” Cody’s Want was third that day and in his subsequent two begins at Saratoga.
Cody Dorman advised his dad that the colt wouldn’t break his maiden till he was there to look at his namesake run. Certain sufficient, when the household was at Churchill Downs for Cody’s Want’s fourth begin, he took command within the one-mile maiden particular weight race and received by two lengths. He then rounded out his three-year-old season with two extra allowance wins at Churchill.
The next spring, Mott examined Cody’s Want towards stakes competitors, opening the season with a second-place end within the Grade 3 Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. He bought his first graded stakes win within the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes at Belmont Park after which headed again to Churchill Downs for the Hanshin Stakes on Independence Day 2022. With the Dormans available, Cody’s Want gutted out a neck victory over Three Approach after which headed into the winner’s circle for the normal win picture. The colt wouldn’t stand for the picture although.
“He doesn’t cease for the image like he usually does. He stored going ahead once more so we rotated a second time,” Alvarado recalled.
Unable to get Cody’s Want in place, the jockey gave the horse an opportunity to stroll a bit bit; the colt “went straight to the place Cody Dorman was, put his head proper by his lap once more, and in perhaps 5 seconds, put his head excessive up.” As soon as he was in a position to greet his pal, Cody’s Want cooperated and had his picture taken.
His subsequent race, the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, featured heavy hitters like Jackie’s Warrior and Child Yoda. The Dormans couldn’t be there for this large problem, however Cody despatched alongside a word of encouragement for his equine pal. Mott and firm confirmed the word to the colt and Cody’s Want had his greatest efficiency but, catching Jackie’s Warrior within the stretch to win by 1¼ lengths. The bond between {the teenager} and his namesake was unmistakable, however Cody’s Want’s journey to the 2022 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland Race Course would give the world an opportunity to see simply how particular these two had been.
A Championship Yr
The Breeders’ Cup brings collectively the perfect of the perfect in a given 12 months and the 2022 version of the Huge Ass Followers Breeders’ Cup Filth Mile was no exception. There, Cody’s Want met Grade 1 TVG.com Haskell Stakes winner Cyberknife, Caesars Sportsbook Del Mar Derby victor Gradual Down Andy, and acquainted foe Three Approach. With the world watching, the Dormans stood trackside hoping that their beloved horse might ship a Breeders’ Cup victory for the younger man who known as the horse his greatest pal. Alvarado was as soon as once more within the saddle for this take a look at, his deal with “successful that race only for them, for no matter was occurring between them.”
In an exhilarating stretch duel, Cody’s Want outlasted Cyberknife to seize the Filth Mile by a head, leaving the capability crowd cheering the story of a boy and a horse. It was additionally his jockey’s first Breeders’ Cup victory, and Alvarado mentioned he was, “pleased to have this occur, to get this carried out for them.”
Introduced again for his 5-year-old season, Godolphin and Mott targeted on yet one more successful season for Cody’s Want earlier than his retirement. He began with a win within the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes introduced by Ford on Kentucky Derby day 2023 after which had what Alvarado considers his greatest efficiency within the Hill ‘N’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. Cody’s Want broke slowly, a wall of horses in entrance of him early within the race.
“He let me take him again a bit bit after which swung round six, seven, eight horses,” the jockey remembered. “Once I put him on the surface, I didn’t even ask him to go. He was passing horses virtually two by two. I might really feel the ability that he had that day.”
After his Met Mile win, Cody’s Want tried the 1 1/8-mile Whitney Stakes at Saratoga, however regardless of a valiant effort, was third behind White Abarrio. The group rebounded within the Grade 2 Vosburgh Stakes on the Belmont on the Huge A meet in early October earlier than delivery west to Santa Anita Park for a second Breeders’ Cup. The Dormans journeyed from Kentucky to California as properly to be available for his or her pal’s final begin earlier than his retirement.
Coach Invoice Mott opted for the Huge Ass Followers Breeders’ Cup Filth Mile once more, which featured a subject of six others, together with Ack Ack Stakes winner Zozos, Suburban Stakes victor Cost It, and Preakness Stakes winner Nationwide Treasure.
Forward of this final race, with a lot on the road, Alvarado shared that he had “essentially the most nerves and essentially the most anxiousness the entire week [ever] coming into any large race.”
However this particular horse — the one named for his pal, the younger man who had battled by the challenges that life had thrown at him — was not going to let Cody Dorman or the thousands and thousands rooting for them down. Cody’s Want and Alvarado lingered towards the again of the pack as Nationwide Treasure set a speedy tempo across the first flip and down the backstretch. On the far flip, Alvarado gave the horse his cue and so they powered by the sphere, taking intention on the chief. They swung away from the rail, operating to Nationwide Treasure’s exterior, shrinking the gap between the 2 with each stride. Inside that final furlong, the 2 had been head and head, dueling for the lead. Cody’s Want pushed forward of the Preakness winner, however Nationwide Treasure battled again. They crossed the end line collectively, a photograph end, leaving the stewards to find out who was the victor. The minutes ticked by because the Dormans and the legion of racing followers following their story waited for the outcome.
It was Cody’s Want by a nostril.
A Coronary heart-Wrenching Ending
The day after the Breeders’ Cup, because the gamers all made their method again to their properties, as Cody’s Want mentioned goodbye to the racetrack and howdy to his subsequent part, Cody Dorman mentioned goodbye, too. On his method dwelling from California, Cody Dorman handed away after a medical occasion a couple of weeks shy of his 18th birthday. He had lived for much longer than the 2 years his medical doctors initially predicted when he was born, a lifelong fighter who bonded with a horse that was a fighter, too.
“I feel that horse has the legs Cody wasn’t given,” his mom, Leslie, mentioned in 2022.
Collectively, the Codys introduced us together with them on a journey that none who love the game will ever neglect.
After 16 begins, 11 wins, and the title of Horse of the Yr for 2023, Cody’s Want has settled into life at Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky. Junior Alvarado and household have had an opportunity to go to the younger stallion at his new dwelling since that 2023 Breeders’ Cup win: “He’s extra calm and relaxed,” the jockey shared. “He makes positive folks know he’s coming. He exhibits that persona.”
His first foals are due in 2025, followers anticipating extra Codys operating on the racetrack in the future quickly. His colts and fillies will carry with them the legacy of not simply Cody’s Want, however of the younger man who overcame the longest of odds to kind a particular bond with a particular horse and introduced us all alongside on their storybook journey.
