The 14-race, two-day extravaganza that makes up the Breeders’ Cup (BC) World Championships never seems to disappoint. When they run the races at Santa Anita, it’s a perfect canvas for this annual masterpiece. Sometimes, with the diverse cast of characters, it becomes otherworldly.
The special bond that seems to be between human and equine athletes and their connections makes the sport a compelling, multi-chaptered novel. If you’re not familiar with the name Cody Dorman, please take a few moments to enjoy his story about his special relationship with the horse named after him, Cody’s Wish. Cody Dorman passed away on his way home from the Breeders’ Cup. He was born with a very rare genetic disorder called Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, a disease that delays growth and drastically curtails intellectual development, which bound him to a wheelchair. They became pals during a Make A Wish Foundation visit. The unnamed five-month-old weanling walked right up to Cody’s wheelchair and laid his head in his lap. The ownership at Godolphin decided later to name the horse after Cody. A little boy in a wheelchair is gone, but what he and his buddy did for all of us and racing is just remarkable. Rest in peace Cody.
It all unfolded on Future Stars Friday when the sports first-year students converged to settle championships in the juvenile divisions. In the Juvenile Turf Sprint, we gave you the winner, Big Evs. Betting European runners on the turf is like having a card full of free spaces for bingo. Triple Crown-winning sire Justify was a proud daddy after two of his progeny, Just FYI (Juvenile Fillies) and Hard To Justify (Juvenile Fillies Turf), took their division honors. Derby 150 aspirants squared off in the Juvenile, which was won by a huge overlay in Fierceness, trained by Todd Pletcher. Bob Baffert had a very un-Baffert-like two days after getting shut out on his home court. Don’t look for any Baffert-trained horses at Churchill this spring, as he’s still suspended. The king of the Breeders Cup grass, trainer Aidan O’Brien, won the BC Juvenile Turf exacta with Unquestionable (FR) and Mountain Bear (Ire) finishing a hard-charging second.
On Saturday, it was time to see if the storybook could repeat itself as Cody’s Wish was going for a repeat in the BC Dirt Mile. Little did we know how significant the result of this race would come to be. In a furious, all-out drive, Cody did it again to defeat Preakness champ National Treasure by a nostril. It would be best to believe that “otherworldly” forces pushed the horse down the Santa Anita stretch again. It was as if the horse knew he was going to be running for Cody for the last time. The special bond that they shared will always be a big part of Breeders’ Cup lore. Cody Dorman left us the way he wanted. He was granted his final wish and said, it’s ok for me to go now. They’ll make a movie about this one day, book it!
Next up was the $2 million BC Filly and Mare Turf. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but European runners ran 1-2 again. Inspiral (GB) and Warm Heart (Ire) stormed home, leaving pacesetter In Italian (fifth) in their wake. In the BC Filly and Mare Sprint, Goodnight Olive repeated her win from last year in much the same fashion for trainer Chad Brown. The BC Mile Turf (yawn) was once again won by Euro Master of the Seas (Ire), with stablemate Mawj (Ire) running second. Eleventh at the head of the stretch, Master of the Seas unleashed a devastating turn of foot to nail Mawj by a nose. Juddmonte Farms, Idiomatic, won the $2 million BC Distaff as the favorite. Champion mare Clariere could do no better than fourth. Yet another European superstar took the $4 million BC Turf as Auguste Rodin (Ire) burned up the Santa Anita stretch to defeat American hopeful Up to the Mark. It’s evident that these horses from across the pond are magnificent on the turf, and the American runners still have a lot of work to do.
In the $6 million BC Classic, the richest race in North America, it was the favorite, White Abarrio, ridden expertly by Irad Ortiz Jr. But it’s how the horse got to the race that’s otherworldly. Back in the spring, at Churchill Downs, then-trainer Saffie Joseph was suspended after a couple of his horses suddenly broke down on the track. One of them fatally. The connections of White Abarrio decided to move him to the barn of recently re-instated trainer Rick Dutrow of Big Brown fame. Dutrow had been suspended for ten years by NYRA for multiple medication violations. When Dutrow won the Whitney at Saratoga, a Win and Your In qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup, the connections headed west. Going off as the 2.60-1 favorite, White Abarrio stalked the rapid pace set by Arabian Knight and Saudi Crown and finished a length on top of Japanese star Derma Sotogake. The win gave jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. his third BC win on the day and 20th overall.
Trainer Bill Mott capped off a massive weekend with his win with Elite Power in the BC Sprint, another repeat performance from 2022. That gave the Hall of Famer his third win (Just FYI, Cody’s Wish) for the two days.
The weekend wasn’t without tragedy, however, as Classic entrant Practical Move suddenly collapsed on track during a morning jog. It’s thought to have been a heart attack. BC Classic probable favorite, Arcangelo, developed a rear hoof issue a few days before the race and was scratched.
The Breeders’ Cup will return to California in 2024, where the surf meets the turf, Del Mar. We did give out a few winners (Big Evs, Cody’s Wish, Inspiral, Auguste Rodin and Elite Power.) That’s five for 14 or a sparkling 35%, folks, not too shabby. I hope you did well. The Breeders’ Cup was once again full of worldly competitors and otherworldly outcomes.
Chuck Harper is a horseracing columnist for the Era. He can be reached at derbyboy1320@gmail.com.