The 17-year-old boy for whom champion thoroughbred Cody’s Wish was named died one day after watching the horse win the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita Park, his family announced Monday, Nov. 6.
“We are heartbroken to share the news that our beloved Cody suffered a medical event on our trip home to Kentucky yesterday and he has passed away,” his parents, Kelly and Leslie Dorman, said in a statement issued Monday morning via Godolphin, the stable that bred and owns Cody’s Wish.
“On Saturday, Cody watched his best friend, Cody’s Wish, display his usual perseverance and toughness in winning a second Breeders’ Cup,” the statement added. “Those are the same characteristics Cody has showed time and again for the 18 years we were blessed to have him.”
Cody Dorman, then a 12-year-old born with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, met the then-unamed 5-month-old foal in October 2018. The horse would be named Cody’s Wish as part of a Make-A-Wish event at Gainsborough Farm in Kentucky.
Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome is a genetic condition that can leave a person without the ability to walk or communicate. Cody wasn’t supposed to live past 2 years old.
Cody’s Wish finished a nose ahead of National Treasure, the 2023 Preakness Stakes champion, on Saturday to win the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile for the second consecutive year.
“I think that horse probably saved Cody’s life in a lot of ways,” the teen’s father said afterward. “I know him and the horse has made a lot of lives better.”
Saturday’s race was the last of Cody’s Wish’s career. He will be retired to stud after winning 11 of 16 races, including five Grade 1 races, finishing second once and third four times.
“With Cody’s diagnosis at birth, we always knew this day would come,” the teen’s parents said in a statement, “but we were determined to help Cody live his best life for however long we had him.
“Anyone who has seen him at the racetrack, especially around Cody’s…
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