Cody's Wish

Cody’s Wish needed four starts to earn his first career win, finishing third in three straight races before a breakthrough win Oct. 2, 2021, at Churchill Downs in a one-mile maiden special weight race. The bay Curlin colt followed with back-to-back allowance victories at the Louisville track to close out his 3-year-old season on a three-race winning streak.

Cody’s Wish returned from a 3 ½-month layoff to make his 4-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes on March 12, 2022 at Tampa Bay Downs, where he finished second by a neck to highly regarded Scalding. Shipped back to New York by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott for his next start, Cody’s Wish pressed the pace on a sloppy track in the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes May 7 at Belmont Park, seized command near the top of the stretch, and powered well clear to a dominant win, completing one mile on the sloppy-sealed track in 1:34.68 for his first stakes win. He followed that with yet another stakes win at Churchill Downs on July 4 in the $173,000 Hanshin Cup, prevailing by a neck at one mile in a fast time of 1:34.

The emergence of Cody's Wish as a top-level stakes performer became complete at Saratoga on Aug. 27 when he was victorious in the $600,000 Grade 1 Forego Stakes, in which he stalked a contested pace and flew past the leaders in the stretch to post the major upset over heavily favored Jackie's Warrior. Cody's Wish went off as the 8-1 odds second choice on the tote board and paid $18.00 to win. The Forego was the second graded stakes win and first Grade 1 victory for Cody’s Wish, who was ridden by Junior Alvarado in all of his stakes victories so far.

Cody's Wish returned for his next start in the Grade 1 $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland on Nov. 5. Cody's Wish sat farther off the pace than usual after a slow start in the Dirt Mile, but he closed from last in a nine-horse field and rallied in the lane to challenge leading Cyberknife in a duel through deep stretch until ultimately prevailing for the Breeders' Cup victory by a head. Cody's Wish ran the mile in a time of 1:35.33 and delivered as the 2-1 favorite.

Grade 1 winner Dance Card, by Tapit is the dam (mother) of Cody’s Wish as well as multiple graded stakes-placed winner Endorsed.