Horse of the Year is Thoroughbred racing’s most coveted award and it also is the one with the most variables.
While championships in each division can be decided on the racetrack in head-to-head meetings, Horse of the Year is a horse of a different color.
Sometimes top contenders for the award do not face each other on the track, meaning an array of different factors are blended together so that a mixture of apples and oranges can be sorted into one standout recipient.
In 2023, all of those factors came together, highlighted by a sterling record on the racetrack and a powerful emotional bond with his namesake, to crown Godolphin’s now 6-year-old homebred Cody’s Wish as the Horse of the Year at the 53rd annual Eclipse Awards dinner Jan. 25 in Palm Beach, Fla.
The first runner considered a dirt miler to be voted Horse of the Year in the Eclipse era, the son of Curlin also provides the world famous Godolphin operation of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum with its initial American Horse of the Year award.
“To have Cody’s Wish become Horse of the Year is obviously a proud moment not only for the organization, but also our founder, Sheikh Mohammed. We’ve had some very nice horses in training before who didn’t quite earn the honor, like Bernardini,” said Godolphin USA’s director of bloodstock Michael Banahan about the first Horse of the Year sired by a recipient of the award since Havre de Grace (Saint Liam) in 2011. “So we knew how difficult it is to be Horse of the Year, making it an absolute honor to be involved with an organization that could breed and race a champion like Cody’s Wish.”
Named the champion older dirt male earlier in the ceremony, Cody’s Wish was practically perfect on the racetrack for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, winning four of five 2023 starts, three of them grade 1s. A decisive triumph in the Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at a one-turn, flat mile and a thrilling triumph by a nose over 2023 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner National Treasure in the final start of his career, the two-turn Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1), topped his achievements.
“We’re biased but I think he was the best horse of 2023. He won three grade 1s, including the Metropolitan Handicap and repeating in the Dirt Mile when he was one of the few horses that was able to run against the bias and get a win picture taken,” Banahan said. “He had the highest Beyer Speed Figure of the year, so there were a lot of indicators that he was the Horse of the Year. The only time he dropped out of grade 1 company was the Vosburgh because there were no grade 1 stakes for him. He beat a very good field in the Met Mile, which included (third-place finisher White Abarrio who went on to win the Whitney Stakes, G1, and Breeders’ Cup Classic, G1). He beat a classic winner in the Dirt Mile. He faced quality competition throughout the year.”
In addition to an outstanding record on the racetrack, what helped make Cody’s Wish the most compelling equine of 2023 was the heart-wrenching story attached to him.
Before the colt ever raced, the Make-A-Wish Foundation brought together the Godolphin homebred and Cody Dorman, a youngster living in Kentucky who was afflicted with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, a genetic disorder that left him unable to talk or walk. The meeting led to naming the Curlin colt Cody’s Wish and a bond between the horse, the connections, and the Dorman family blossomed.
As Cody’s Wish needed four cracks as a 3-year-old in 2021 to break his maiden, the story of the young boy and the bay colt gained little attention, but as Mott developed Cody’s Wish into a graded stakes winner at 4, it started touching the hearts of more and more people with each passing race.
It went viral when Cody’s Wish captured the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland by a head over Cyberknife and Dorman was part of the winner’s circle celebration.
In 2023, Dorman and Cody’s Wish were a coupled entry that attracted mainstream media attention. There were poignant nationally televised scenes when the teenager and his family were on hand for the 5-year-old’s third-place finish in the Whitney at Saratoga Race Course as well as his namesake’s dramatic farewell performance at Santa Anita Park when the multiple graded stakes winner prevailed by a nose to become the second horse to post consecutive Dirt Mile wins.
“It was an unbelievable year all around for Godolphin on the racetrack, but what was special was sharing the journey with Cody Dorman and his family. The opportunity the horse gave them to do something they had never done before was heartwarming, and the way the horse racing industry, racetracks, and fans embraced them was incredible,” Banahan said. “The Dormans were an inspiration to a lot of families who are also facing difficult situations in their lives. It was an unbelievable experience. Even when we lost at Saratoga there was so much love for Cody. It was a great day for the family.”
Tragically, Cody Dorman lost his battle for life on the trip home to Kentucky the day after the Nov. 4 Dirt Mile. He was 17 and left behind a legacy that for years will be attached to a Thoroughbred acclaimed as Horse of the Year.
“We had the fairy tale ending at the Breeders’ Cup and then when Cody passed away on the trip home it was devastating and became a roller coaster of emotions,” Banahan said. “The family was grateful for the time he spent with the horse. It was a special time that filled us with so many highs and lows.”
Cody’s Wish, ridden by Junior Alvarado, started his 2023 campaign with a 4 3/4-length victory in the May 6 Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) at seven furlongs.
He then registered his most impressive win in the famed Met Mile at Belmont Park, winning by 3 1/4 lengths over grade 1 winner Zandon with White Abarrio third.
With no major grade 1s at a mile on the horizon, the connections opted to run Cody’s Wish in the Whitney at a two-turn, mile-and-an-eighth distance. The son of the Tapit mare Dance Card had never won at a distance that long and he failed to fire in the Spa’s premier race for older dirt males, finishing third by 10 lengths.
He rebounded with an easy 1 1/2-length win in the Vosburgh Stakes (G2), and then registered a Hollywood ending to his career with the dramatic Dirt Mile victory, rallying from sixth on a track that favored early speed and winning narrowly over a game, front-running National Treasure. There was even a stewards’ inquiry to add to the drama, but the result was unchanged.
“When you add a story that resonated with the industry for two years to his ability and success, it’s a given he was Horse of the Year,” Banahan said. “His whole body of work for his career was exceptional and he beat quality horses like Jackie’s Warrior in 2022 when he was undefeated at Saratoga. His career was a testament to Bill Mott and his crew which got him to that high level last year and he never dropped off. We know how difficult it is to keep a horse at that pitch perfect level and Cody’s Wish was nevertheless able to maintain his stellar form throughout the year.”
Cody’s Wish earned $1,773,900 in 2023 and closed his career with a mark of 11-1-4 in 16 starts with earnings of $3,106,030.
The five-time grade 1 winner and half brother to grade 2 winner Endorsed is standing his first season at Darley America in Kentucky.
