Cody’s Wish likely has one more race left in a brilliant career.

Judging by what happened Oct. 1 in the $250,000 Vosburgh Stakes, it should be dazzling.

Putting a disappointing third-place finish Aug. 5 in the 1 1/8-mile Whitney Stakes behind him, the Godolphin homebred returned to what he does best in the sprint stakes at Belmont at the Big A and recorded a sharp 1 1/2-length victory over a game Accretive in the seven-furlong test.

“We’ll probably retire him to stud at the end of the year,” said Michael Banahan, bloodstock manager for Godolphin USA. “We got an extra year out and him and he achieved our major goal, which was winning the Metropolitan Handicap.”

The final goal for the 5-year-old son of Curlin is an encore victory in the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park, and the Vosburgh illustrated why he should be heavily favored while seeking back-to-back wins in the two-turn, eight-furlong event at the World Championships. Despite breaking last in the Vosburgh under Junior Alvarado, Cody’s Wish moved into a contending position approaching the far turn and in the stretch the heavy 0.15-1 favorite edged away from Grade 2-placed Accretive to cover the seven furlongs in a crisp 1:21.83.

“You are always going to be a little bit nervous after a loss, regardless of the situation around it,” Banahan said, referring to Cody’s Wish running as far as the 1 1/8-mile distance in the Whitney for just the second time. “So, it was good to see him in top form again.”

In the eyes of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, the performance in Sunday’s race, which was moved from Sept. 30 after that card was cancelled due to 8.65 inches of rainfall at the Big A in recent days, was an ideal tune-up for the Dirt Mile.

“It wasn’t earth-shattering, but just the fact that he won with slow pace is commendable. It was a good effort. You always worry about a race being too good. This should set him up nicely,” said Mott, who was walking with the help of a cane 2 1/2 weeks after a hip replacement.

Alvarado and ‘Cody’ after the win. (Janet Garaguso/NYRA)

Cody’s Wish will return to the Breeders’ Cup with 10 wins in 15 starts, with four Grade 1 victories. One of the sport’s most heartwarming stories as he is named for teenager Cody Dorman, who is suffering from Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, it was the bay horse’s seventh win in eight starts, with the Whitney loss in his previous outing the lone blemish.

Accretive, a 4-year-old Practical Joke gelding who was second in last year’s Amsterdam Stakes, set the early fractions of :23.33 and :46.12 but the 9-2 second choice could not fend off Cody’s Wish in the final furlong. He came into the race off a pair of allowance wins in his two 2023 starts.

“He was second best,” trainer Chad Brown said. “I told (jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.) that if he could get away with a :46 or :47 half that was the best chance of holding (Cody’s Wish) off. But when I saw (Cody’s Wish) in the paddock, I knew he was going to be tough to deal with. Bill and his staff had the horse looking like a billion dollars.”

New Jersey-bred Great Navigator was 3 1/4 lengths back in third.

Though the Vosburgh was a “Win and You’re In” stakes for the Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint, the berth will go unused since Cody’s Wish is headed to the Dirt Mile and already secured a spot to that race through his win in the Met Mile.

Zandon Puts It All Together to Win Woodward

Zandon (Joe Labozzetta/NYRA)

Zandon ended an eight-race winning streak on Oct. 1 with a rallying 4 ½-length win in the $400,000 Woodward Stakes at Belmont at the Big A. The Upstart colt sat off a solid early pace, swung five-wide in early stretch, and powered clear under Flavien Prat to win going away as the even-money favorite.

Pace-pressing Film Star, making his stakes debut, held second by a neck over Law Professor, who finished second in last year’s Woodward. The final time for 1 1/8 miles was 1:48.48.

Zandon emerged as one of the top 3-year-olds in training in 2022 with a win in the Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, and he next finished third by 1 ½ lengths in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve. That started a string of starts without a win that stretched into this fall, although he continued to run well, hitting the board in all but one of them. He entered the Grade 2 Woodward off of three consecutive runner-up finishes this year, the last two coming in the Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap and the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes.

“He’s been a horse that’s been knocking on the door and he’s had a little bit of bad luck running into really, really top horses in some of these races,” said Chad Brown, who trains Zandon for Jeff Drown. “He’s always run into really top class horses along the way. Like I’ve said before, one thing I’ll always point out is even in a lot of runner-up finishes, look at the horses that were behind him. I mean, he’s beat a pile of good horses in those valiant runner-up races. This horse is a really consistent horse and has been a pleasure to train.”

Zandon improved his career record to 3-6-3 through 13 starts with $2,140,000 in earnings.