ARCADIA, Calif. - Racing’s fairytale story had a dramatic – and ultimately happy - ending when Cody’s Wish got his nose down on the wire over National Treasure and then survived a stewards’ inquiry to win Saturday’s $890,000 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita.
It was 11th win in the 16th and final start for Cody’s Wish, who became a fan favorite due to his connection with the teenage boy Cody Dorman, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder that has confined him to a wheelchair. Dorman and his family were in attendance at Santa Anita on Saturday.
“In a lot of ways that horse saved Cody’s Life,” Kelly Dorman, Cody's father, said in a post-race press conference.
For Cody’s Wish, the win Saturday was reminiscent of his victory in last year’s Dirt Mile when he beat Cyberknife by a head.
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Saturday, though, Cody’s Wish had to run down Preakness winner National Treasure, who was a somewhat surprising pacesetter under Flavien Prat. Cody’s Wish, who was about nine lengths back after the opening half mile - which was run in 46.02 seconds - came with a late run under Junior Alvarado.
In deep stretch, National Treasure came out, bumped Cody’s Wish, and then Cody’s Wish came back down and bumped National Treasure. Prat said he asked the stewards to look at the bumping and was told they were already doing so.
“I thought I was coming back on him and he came down on me, and we made contact a few times,” Prat said. “That’s about it.”
After about a five-minute inquiry, the stewards, in a 3-0 vote, let the result stand, saying the bumping did not, in their opinion, affect the race's outcome.
“The other horse came out first and he initiated contact and I knew once that happened I had at least one green card for me to get back at him,” Alvarado said. “But I tried to keep him straight as much as I could.”
Bob Baffert, the trainer of National Treasure, said he was fine with the stewards letting the result stand.
“When it’s 50-50, I’m always give it to the winner,” Baffert said. “I didn’t have any problem with the decision.”
Alvarado said he thought he was going to get by National Treasure a little easier than he did.
“When he put the head in front, he kind of hung there and didn’t want to keep going,” Alvarado said. “It did worry me because he’s never done that before … I kept throwing my reins at him, I know he likes that, so he kept fighting for me.”
National Treasure finished second by 3 3/4 lengths over Skippylongstocking. Charge It was fourth, followed by Zozos, Stage Raider and Shirl’s Bee.
Algiers was scratched earlier in the week due to a bruised foot. Practical Move, who was entered Monday, died a sudden death due to cardiovascular collapse on Wednesday during training.
Cody’s Wish, a 5-year-old son of Curlin, covered the mile Saturday in 1:35.97 and returned $3.60 as the favorite, getting a 107 Beyer Speed Figure.
Cody’s Wish won for the fourth time in five starts this year. In addition to becoming just the second horse to win the Dirt Mile in consecutive years - Goldencents did so in 2013-14 - Cody’s Wish this year also won the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap and the Grade 1 Churchill Downs. His only defeat came in the Grade 1 Whitney when he finished third to White Abarrio, unable to handle the 1 1/8 miles of that race.
Mott believes Cody’s Wish deserves to at least be in the conversation for Horse of the Year.
“It’s the icing on the cake, you couldn’t imagine a better ending,” Mott said. “You know, wow, he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. We were a little skeptical about the mile-and-an-eighth in the Whitney, but he’s done everything else. You look at his record, you can’t fault him.”
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