Godolphin homebred Cody's Wish (Curlin) became the third graded winner on the day for his magnificent stallion, overcoming an imperfect passage to stamp his authority on Saturday's GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. at Belmont Park and in so doing, punching his ticket to defense of his title in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita Nov. 4.
Fidgety pre-start in gate one, the bay missed the break slightly–as many drawn the inside going Belmont's one-turn mile are wont to do–and found himself near the back of the pack through the opening exchanges as Slow Down Andy (Nyquist), Dr. Schivel (Violence) and Hoist the Gold (Mineshaft) fueled a decent early pace. Stuck down inside and looking somewhat uncomfortable inside of Zandon (Upstart) as they raced past the opening half-mile in :45.86, Junior Alvarado took a bit of a tug on Cody's Wish for a stride or two, allowing Zandon to go on with it, and that gave Alvarado an opportunity to get out of jail. Steered suddenly away from the fence and into the clear at the 3 1/2-furlong marker, Cody's Wish looped his rivals and rapidly picked them off one-by-one, coming across the heels of the Zandon while surging to the front at the quarter pole. It was all academic from there, as he would go on to score by about four lengths over Zandon–whose sire was a distant third to Godolphin's Frosted (Tapit) in 2016–with White Abarrio (Race Day) third.
It was the third win on the afternoon for Curlin, who stands as the sponsor's stallion station at Xalapa in Lexington. Elite Power kicked the afternoon off in the GII True North S., while Clairiere made it back-to-back wins in the GI Ogden Phipps S.
“I was just trying to find my way out,” reported Alvarado. “At about the half-mile pole, I found my seam, moved behind the heels of horses to get into the clear, then he turned everything on. Then, I just had to get out of his way and let him do his thing. He's unbelievable.
“The key with him has always been the turn. He picks off a lot of horses there. His ability to move well in the turn helped us today. We took advantage of the big sweeping turn in Belmont and it worked out unbelievably.”
Cody's Wish posted four wins from his five trips postward last season, besting champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) by a widening 1 1/4 lengths in the GI Forego S. at Saratoga in August before closing the campaign in the Dirt Mile, where he overcame a slow start and bridged a double-digit deficit to account for Cyberknife (Gun Runner) by a neck. He made his seasonal debut in the GI Churchill Downs S. May 6, rallying from well off the pace over a track that was kind to speed to score by 4 3/4 lengths over Hoist the Gold.
Cody Dorman, the 16-year-old from Richmond, Kentucky, for whom the winner is named, could not be on hand, and trainer Bill Mott admitted that he is as big a fan of Cody's journey as anyone.
“It's as heartwarming for me as it is for the fans watching,” the conditioner said. “I had a lot of people tell me what a great story this is. For sure, it's a great story, but it goes along with a good horse. He's developed nicely. I thought he had a possibility of being a good horse before we ever ran him. It took us a couple of races to get him going in the right direction and to get him educated enough to where he knew how to use his run. He's finally figured it out.”
Godolphin's GI Longines Kentucky Oaks winner 'TDN Rising Star' Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) got the weekend off on a high note in Friday's GI Acorn S., and the operation's Michael Banahan reflected on the achievements.
“It's just an unbelievable story and we're so lucky and proud to have this horse,” he said. For our founder Sheikh Mohammed, to have this unbelievably popular horse and to come and win the Met Mile, it's just a great, great day for us.”
Pedigree Notes:
Sheikh Mohammed's operation acquired Cody's Wish's dam for $750,000 at the 2011 Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale and validated her purchase price with a victory in the 2012 GI Gazelle S. in a career that also featured a third-place effort behind Groupie Doll (Bowman's Band) in the 2013 GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.
Cody's Wish is one of eight of Curlin's top-level scorers that descends from the line of 1992 GI Belmont S. hero A.P. Indy, he, of course, a son of 1977 Triple Crown sweeper Seattle Slew. When including mares by the latter's sire sons, that number extends to 11 and includes Elite Power and Exaggerator–both out of mares by Vindication–and Off the Tracks, by Capote's Eclipse Award-winning son Boston Harbor.
Dance Card is responsible for the 2-year-old colt Hunt Ball (Into Mischief), a yearling filly by Street Sense and was most recently covered by Gun Runner.
Saturday, Belmont Park
HILL 'N' DALE METROPOLITAN H.-GI, $1,000,000, Belmont, 6-10, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:34.36, ft.
1–CODY'S WISH, 126, h, 5, by Curlin
               1st Dam: Dance Card (GISW, $502,200), by Tapit
               2nd Dam: Tempting Note, by Editor's Note
               3rd Dam: Tempt, by Devil's Bag
O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-William I. Mott; J-Junior Alvarado.
$550,000. Lifetime Record: 13-9-1-3, $2,328,530. *1/2 to
Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro), MGSW, $970,133.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Zandon, 122, c, 4, Upstart–Memories Prevail, by Creative
Cause. ($170,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Jeff Drown; B-Brereton C.
Jones (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $200,000.
3–White Abarrio, 120, c, 4, Race Day–Catching Diamonds, by
Into Mischief. ($7,500 Ylg '20 OBSWIN; $40,000 2yo '21
OBSMAR). O-C Two Racing Stable and Antonio Pagnano;
B-Spendthrift Farm LLC (KY); T-Richard E. Dutrow, Jr. $120,000.
Margins: 3 1/4, HD, 2 1/4. Odds: 0.65, 7.20, 20.20.
Also Ran: Charge It, Dr. Schivel, Slow Down Andy, Repo Rocks, Hoist the Gold, Doppelganger.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
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