Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) and Daily Racing Form announced that for the second year running, the story of Cody's Wish has been voted the FanDuel Racing/NTRA Moment of the Year based on the results of nearly 4,000 votes case via Twitter in an online poll. Cody's Wish thrilled his fans, including his late namesake Cody Dorman, with a successful defense of his title in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Nov. 4 The Moment of the Year will be recognized during the...

What a way to kick off Saturday's Breeders' Cup action as the sport's favorite fairy tale got its happily-ever-after ending. Cody's Wish (Curlin--Dance Card, by Tapit) made it back-to-back GI Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile wins in a dramatic running of the first World Championships race on the card Saturday. Cody's Wish had captured the heart of the racing world last year as the story of his incredibly special connection with Cody Dorman, a boy suffering from Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, emerged and grew. There were few dry eyes among...

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup Can you imagine being a horse racing-crazy kid with a ringside seat to the creation of the Breeders' Cup? Mark Taylor can, because he was. Fast forward more than four decades and now he is president and CEO of the Central Kentucky farm that is believed to have raised and/or sold more Breeders' Cup winners than any other. There's also the matter of having stood the Breeders' Cup winner who currently holds the record for siring the most Breeders' Cup winners in turn....

It's not often one is surprised when a 1-2 favorite wins, but Liam's Map had such a tumultuous trip in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile after a history of front-running scores that he had every right to lose. "I like the way he did it," said Javier Castellano, who also had won the GI Woodward with the horse the month before. "He had missed the break. [Todd] Pletcher told me, 'Make sure he breaks good and get a good position,' but when the gate opened, he missed the break....

The GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile is one of three options for Godolphin's Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid) following a barnstorming gate-to-wire victory in Monday's $823,000 Listed Mile Championship Nambu Hai at Morioka Racecourse on the National Association of Racing circuit in Japan. Having already secured a Breeders' Cup berth courtesy of his biggest win to date in the G1 February S. at Tokyo this past February, the 5-year-old was having his first run since finishing an outpaced 10th, beaten six lengths, in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen over six...

Barry and Joni Butzow's homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' Zozos (Munnings) took them all the way for an overdue first graded stakes success in Saturday's GIII Ack Ack S., a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. The 3-5 favorite set a pressured pace, albeit through very manageable early fractions of :23.69 and :47.10 going a one-turn mile beneath the Twin Spires. He let it out a notch as they straightened for home and held Justify (Scat Daddy)'s half-brother and 'Rising Star' Stage Raider (Pioneerof the...

The only two-time winner of the Dirt Mile to date, Goldencents had gameness written all over him. The Equibase chart for his second Breeders' Cup win summed up much of his career: "gunned hard," "met the oncoming challenge," and "dug in tenaciously." "Goldencents was a special horse for us because he is the first horse that really began to put Into Mischief on the map," said Ned Toffey, general manager of Spendthrift Farm. "He and [MGSW & MGISP] Vyjack came out of Into Mischief's first crop. Obviously he went on...

When Life Is Good was good, he was really, really good. A sight to behold in full flight, the 2021 Dirt Mile winner inspired breeders to send him a first book containing 25 Grade I winners and/or producers, as well as 70 graded winners and/or producers. Life Is Good's first foals will arrive in 2024. "We are extremely excited for Life Is Good's foals coming next year," said Elliott Walden, WinStar Farm's president/CEO and racing manager. "We have never had a stallion that was so well received." Life Is Good...

Cody's Wish (Curlin), last seen capturing the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in dramatic fashion at Keeneland Nov. 5, is targeting the GI Churchill Downs S. on the GI Kentucky Derby undercard for his 2023 lidlifter. The Godolphin homebred returned to the worktab with a three-furlong breeze in :38.80 (2/3) at Hall of Famer Bill Mott's Payson Park base Mar. 1. He breezed four furlongs in :51.80 (32/33) Friday. "He is doing very well," Godolphin USA Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan said. "He looks in fantastic shape. After the Breeders'...

After a debut season at Taylor Made during which he covered a hefty book of better than 150 mares, Horse of the Year and five-time Grade I winner Knicks Go (Paynter) is champing at the bit to get back to work as breeding sheds open their doors across Central Kentucky. The Korea Racing Authority raced the gray to 10 victories over the course of four-plus seasons and earnings north of $9.2 million, and his first year at Taylor Made has led to even greater optimism for his second. The KRA's...

Edited Press Release Cody's Wish (Curlin), this year's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner who shares an endearing bond with Cody Dorman, has been voted the winner of the 2022 Secretariat Vox Populi Award. Created by Secretariat's owner Penny Chenery, the annual award recognizes the horse whose popularity and racing excellence best resounded with the public and gained recognition for Thoroughbred racing. Owned by Godolphin, trained by Bill Mott, and ridden throughout the year by Junior Alvarado, Cody's Wish and his special story have gained affection and admiration that transcend...

Cody's Wish (Curlin), a sentimental winner of Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, his second straight Grade I win, will remain in training in 2023 according to Godolphin USA's Director of Bloodstock, Michael Banahan. "He came out of the Breeders' Cup very well", said Banahan. "He's sound, healthy and we're extremely excited about seeing him race next year." A future Darley stallion, Cody's Wish has won or placed all eleven of his starts, including victories in seven of his last eight leading up to the Dirt Mile, with his namesake...