Honoring the legacy of Cody Dorman, through Cody’s Wish

LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) — It’s a bond that captured the hearts of many around the world, the bond between Cody Dorman and Cody’s Wish.

“It all started in 2018 when we had we were partnered with Make-A-Wish and Make-A-Wish Day at Keeneland, and every year for the Make-A-Wish Day, we receive a child and their family, to partner with us come out to the farm, have a tour of the farm, and then go and spend the day at the races. And in 2018, I suppose the one word to think about with all of this is random. Every part of it is just falls into that category, but in 2018, our child was Cody Dorman,” said Danny Mulvihill, the Godolphin Stud Farm Manager.

Cody Dorman passed away in November of 2023, but through his namesake, Cody’s Wish, his legacy continues to live on.
Dorman was born with a rare genetic condition called wolf-hirschhorn syndrome.

“Two years later, we got a phone call from Kelly Dorman to say, you know, any chance they could come back out and see Cody again, that it spurred Cody on a little bit when he had seen the first time. So we said sure, at the time Cody’s Wish was a full two-year-old in training. And bear in mind, this was two years after the first meeting, and when they brought the horse out, he knew who was there to see him. He came up to Cody again and just hung out with him there,” added Mulvihill.

Cody’s wish named after Cody Dorman, became the thoroughbred racehorse, that gained the attention of millions soon after.

“Cody had said to his mom, he won’t win until I’m there to see him. Well, his next art happened to be close by at Churchill Downs. And Cody came to see him and he won, and from that day, Cody  did not get a prediction wrong. He told us every day that he was going to win and the horse won on that day,” he also added.

And the bond between Cody and Cody’s Wish only continued to grow, “they just fed off each other. They had the same spirit, same heart didn’t know how to quit. You’ve seen it on the track. You know, Cody lived his whole life the same way that horse ran every race,” said Kelly Dorman, Cody’s Father.

For Dorman, “he had every reason in the world to give up, but, you know, his heart was full of grit, determination, and more than anything love,” he says reflecting on his son Cody.