Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and Danny Mulvihill, farm manager at Godolphin's Gainsborough Farm, were discussing Cody's Wish after he dominated the May 6 Churchill Downs Stakes in his 5-year-old debut.
“Did you know he was going to be this good?” Mott asked.
“I wish,” Mulvihill replied.
Mulvihill could not have predicted that the son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin would blossom into the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner last November at Keeneland. He could not have foreseen that the immensely popular bay horse would add the Met Mile to the Churchill Down to give him four consecutive Grade 1 triumphs and nine victories in his last 10 starts.
But when Cody Dorman visited Gainsborough in 2018 as part of its involvement with the Make-A-Wish program, Mulvihill's keen powers of observation did lead him to create what he believes was a match made in heaven.
Mulvihill had been alerted that Dorman, born with Wolf Hirsch-horn syndrome, is unable to walk. He knew the wheelchair might spook many foals, creating a potentially dangerous situation. The Curlin foal out of Dance Card was an obvious choice to him.
“As a foal, he was very, very laid back,” Mulvihill recalled. “He took everything in stride. He never fussed about anything.”
The foal eyed Cody and began to inch forward until he was close enough to begin nuzzling the boy's hands and sniffing him. Then he gently laid his head in Cody's lap.
“The two of them just bonded for a couple of minutes,” Mulvihill said.
Mary Bourne, Gainsborough's office manager, was so struck by their instant connection that she requested permission to name the foal Cody's Wish.
No one envisioned then that Cody and his namesake would meet many more times, that Cody would credit the horse with saving his life and that the two of them would inspire many physically challenged youngsters.
Certainly, Mulvihill never saw that coming. “For all of that to line up, I've said to many people that we are just pawns in this story,” he said. “I think the man upstairs has had his hand in this and has had his hand in it from a long way back.”
At the least, the pairing was fortuitous and a vivid example of how well Mulvihill knows his horses. He has worked for Godolphin for 24 years, spending 10 years in his native Ireland and then three and a half years in Japan. He has been based in the United States since 2013.
Mulvihill, 47, is so passionate about horses that his wife, Carol, calls his career his “first wife.” They delight in living at 1,500-acre Gainsborough, in Versailles, Ky., as do their five children: Matthew, 21; Emma, 18; Cian, 16; and twins Daniel and Grace, 13.
Carol said of her husband's devotion to the farm, “He lives for it. It's not really a job. It's a lifestyle. I can't see him ever doing anything else. He just gets it done quietly, head down.”
Some workers cringe when breeding season approaches, knowing the grueling commitment that entails. Not Mulvihill.
“You hear many times about the long hours of the breeding season, but it's without a doubt my favorite time of year,” he said. “I'm quite happy to be up at all hours of the night and all hours of the morning to see them born and stand for the first time, to see that connection between mom and baby.
“Every time it's something different. It's hard to explain how good it is. I'm just blessed that I get to experience it year in and year out.”
Gainsborough breeds as many as 65 mares a year and raises the foals. Mulvihill looks on in wonderment when mares deliver their first foals.
“You've got this mare that doesn't know what is going on but Mother Nature takes over,” he said. “You see that foal born and it stands. They're all different, but you hear this lovely little exchange between the two of them, the little nicker from the mare welcoming the baby into the world. It just give you a fantastic feeling that this is what you get to do as a job, this is what you get to do with your life.”
Godolphin has won consecutive Eclipse Awards as Outstanding Breeder and Outstanding Owner. Mulvihill credited top management for its patience in allowing foals ample time to grow and never attempting to rush their development. He oversees approximately 45 workers and praised the performance of broodmare manager Gary Harlow, assistant yearling manager Benji Amezcua and Bourne, among others.
“I've got a fantastic team of people who help me look good at what I do,” Mulvihill said. “Without that team, that does not happen.”
Then, too, there is the support of his family, which grew by one not long ago. Grace persuaded them to adopt a retired Thoroughbred that competed on behalf of Godolphin from 2020-'22. He never quite broke his maiden, placing second twice and third once in four lifetime starts.
Brother in Arms, perhaps not the fiercest of competitors, is now known by a gentler name. They all call him “Mike.”
Tom Pedulla, 2022 recipient of the Walter Haight Award from the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, wrote for USA Today from 1995-2012 and has been a contributor to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Blood-Horse, America's Best Racing and other publications.
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