Once upon a time, there was a boy and a horse, and together, they made magic happen. The bond between humans and horses is a timeless one, brought to life on the page and screen through Alec and the Black Stallion or Velvet and the Pie. Each brings out something special in the other, that connection helping them realize the best in themselves.

When Cody Dorman met a young weanling by Curlin, no one could have predicted what would happen in that moment and the years after. The wordless connection between the two fueled the story of a boy and his Breeders’ Cup champion.

A Beautiful Beginning

A daughter of influential stallion Tapit, Dance Card had her own notable racing career, winning the Grade 1 Gazelle Stakes at 3 before finishing third in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita Park the following season. After her racetrack days, she moved on to broodmare life, and on May 3, 2018, Dance Card delivered her fourth foal, a bay colt by Curlin, the Hall of Famer and two-time Horse of the Year.

Cody Dorman meeting Cody’s Wish. (Courtesy of Kelly Dorman)

With a diamond of white on his forehead, this newest foal was one of more than 40 born at Godolphin’s Gainsborough Farm in Central Kentucky, but one fortuitous moment would make Dance Card’s colt much more.

Every year, the Make-A-Wish Foundation partners with Keeneland Race Course, sharing a VIP experience with the families of critically ill children. In 2018, the Dorman family was matched with Godolphin for that year’s edition, which included a chance for parents Kelly and Leslie, son Cody, and daughter Kylie to visit the breeder-owner’s Gainsborough Farm in Versailles. Born with the genetic disorder Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, Cody Dorman was unable to walk or talk but communicated through a tablet and loved watching horse racing with his family. During their visit to Gainsborough, farm manager Danny Mulvihill brought out Dance Card with her 5-month-old Curlin foal, a quiet and laid-back colt that he thought was the right fit for the meeting.

What came next was the start of a story that has touched the hearts of millions around the world. The young foal sniffed Cody and then laid his head in the young man’s lap to the astonishment of those present. The bond the two formed during that meeting was evident again when the Dormans visited in 2020. As the world wrestled with the COVID-19 pandemic, Cody had fallen into a deep depression; concerned, his parents reached out to Godolphin, who encouraged the family to visit the farm. They brought out the same young horse, who pulled on his lead until allowed to stand next to the boy. That meeting helped bring Cody out of his depression and inspired Godolphin to name the then-2-year-old colt Cody’s Wish.

A Boy and a Horse

Sent to trainer Bill Mott, Cody’s Wish was unraced at 2 and made his first start as a 3-year-old in June 2021. Jockey Junior Alvarado, who was aboard for most of the horse’s 16 starts, remembers that first race as a learning experience for the colt: “From the half-mile pole, I remember asking him to go, [but] he was not responding. All of a sudden, he just turned on this monster turn of foot; I had a wall in front 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 outside and started asking him again, but it was already too late.” Cody’s Wish was third that day and in his next two starts at Saratoga.

Cody Dorman told his dad that the colt would not break his maiden until he was there to watch his namesake run. Sure enough, when the family was at Churchill Downs for Cody’s Wish’s fourth start, he took command in the one-mile maiden special weight race and won by two lengths. He then rounded out his three-year-old season with two more allowance wins at Churchill.

Cody Dorman with Junior Alvarado. (Courtesy of Kelly Dorman)

The following spring, Mott tested Cody’s Wish against stakes competition, opening the season with a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. He got his first graded stakes win in the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes at Belmont Park and then headed back to Churchill Downs for the Hanshin Stakes on Independence Day 2022. With the Dormans on hand, Cody’s Wish gutted out a neck victory over Three Technique and then headed into the winner’s circle for the traditional win photo. The colt would not stand for the photo though.

“He doesn’t stop for the picture like he normally does. He kept going forward again so we turned around a second time,” Alvarado recalled.

Unable to get Cody’s Wish in position, the jockey gave the horse a chance to walk a little bit; the colt “went straight to where Cody Dorman was, put his head right by his lap again, and in maybe five seconds, put his head high up.” Once he was able to greet his friend, Cody’s Wish cooperated and had his photo taken.

His next race, the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, featured heavy hitters like Jackie’s Warrior and Baby Yoda. The Dormans could not be there for this big challenge, but Cody sent along a note of encouragement for his equine friend. Mott and company showed the note to the colt and Cody’s Wish had his best performance yet, catching Jackie’s Warrior in the stretch to win by 1¼ lengths. The bond between the teenager and his namesake was unmistakable, but Cody’s Wish’s trip to the 2022 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland Race Course would give the world a chance to see just how special these two were.

A Championship Year

The Breeders’ Cup brings together the best of the best in a given year and the 2022 edition of the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile was no exception. There, Cody’s Wish met Grade 1 TVG.com Haskell Stakes winner Cyberknife, Caesars Sportsbook Del Mar Derby victor Slow Down Andy, and familiar foe Three Technique. With the world watching, the Dormans stood trackside hoping that their beloved horse could deliver a Breeders’ Cup victory for the young man who called the horse his best friend. Alvarado was once again in the saddle for this test, his focus on “winning that race just for them, for whatever was happening between them.”

In a thrilling stretch duel, Cody’s Wish outlasted Cyberknife to capture the Dirt Mile by a head, leaving the capacity crowd cheering the story of a boy and a horse. It was also his jockey’s first Breeders’ Cup victory, and Alvarado said he was, “happy to have this happen, to get this done for them.”

Brought back for his 5-year-old season, Godolphin and Mott focused on one more winning season for Cody’s Wish before his retirement. He started with a win in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes presented by Ford on Kentucky Derby day 2023 and then had what Alvarado considers his best performance in the Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. Cody’s Wish broke slowly, a wall of horses in front of him early in the race.

“He let me take him back a little bit and then swung around six, seven, eight horses,” the jockey remembered. “When I put him on the outside, I didn’t even ask him to go. He was passing horses almost two by two. I could feel the power that he had that day.”

After his Met Mile win, Cody’s Wish tried the 1 1/8-mile Whitney Stakes at Saratoga, but despite a valiant effort, was third behind White Abarrio. The team rebounded in the Grade 2 Vosburgh Stakes at the Belmont at the Big A meet in early October before shipping west to Santa Anita Park for a second Breeders’ Cup. The Dormans journeyed from Kentucky to California as well to be on hand for their friend’s last start before his retirement.

Cody Dorman with Cody's Wish before 2023 Breeders' Cup. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Trainer Bill Mott opted for the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile again, which featured a field of six others, including Ack Ack Stakes winner Zozos, Suburban Stakes victor Charge It, and Preakness Stakes winner National Treasure.

Ahead of this last race, with so much on the line, Alvarado shared that he had “the most nerves and the most anxiety the whole week [ever] coming into any big race.”

But this special horse — the one named for his friend, the young man who had battled through the challenges that life had thrown at him — was not going to let Cody Dorman or the millions rooting for them down. Cody’s Wish and Alvarado lingered toward the back of the pack as National Treasure set a speedy pace around the first turn and down the backstretch. On the far turn, Alvarado gave the horse his cue and they powered through the field, taking aim on the leader. They swung away from the rail, running to National Treasure’s outside, shrinking the distance between the two with every stride. Inside that last furlong, the two were head and head, dueling for the lead. Cody’s Wish pushed ahead of the Preakness winner, but National Treasure battled back. They crossed the finish line together, a photo finish, leaving the stewards to determine who was the victor. The minutes ticked by as the Dormans and the legion of racing fans following their story waited for the result.

It was Cody’s Wish by a nose.

A Heart-Wrenching Ending

The day after the Breeders’ Cup, as the players all made their way back to their homes, as Cody’s Wish said goodbye to the racetrack and hello to his next phase, Cody Dorman said goodbye, too. On his way home from California, Cody Dorman passed away after a medical event a few weeks shy of his 18^th birthday. He had lived much longer than the two years his doctors originally predicted when he was born, a lifelong fighter who bonded with a horse that was a fighter, too.

“I think that horse has the legs Cody wasn’t given,” his mother, Leslie, said in 2022.

Together, the Codys brought us along with them on a journey that none who love the sport will ever forget.

After 16 starts, 11 wins, and the title of Horse of the Year for 2023, Cody’s Wish has settled into life at Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky. Junior Alvarado and family have had a chance to visit the young stallion at his new home since that 2023 Breeders’ Cup win: “He’s more calm and relaxed,” the jockey shared. “He makes sure people know he’s coming. He shows that personality.”

His first foals are due in 2025, fans anticipating more Codys running on the racetrack one day soon. His colts and fillies will carry with them the legacy of not just Cody’s Wish, but of the young man who overcame the longest of odds to form a special bond with a special horse and brought us all along on their storybook ride.