The Bond: Two Hearts - One Spirit honors the extraordinary relationship between a boy and a horse, and seven years to the day after they first connected, it was unveiled at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Gainsborough Farm Manager Danny Mulvihill described the moment a gangly, thoroughbred colt not yet weaned, was introduced to 12 year old Cody Dorman thanks to the Make A Wish Foundation.
Born with Wolf-Hirschborn syndrome, a rare genetic disease, Cody Dorman was confined to a wheelchair and communicated via an electronic tablet. During his short life he endured almost 50 surgeries and his body was ravaged by strokes and seizures. The foal he bonded with that day went into training with the racing name, Cody’s Wish, for him and the Foundation. They would meet again in 2020 when Cody’s parents thought it might help lift his depression during the the Covid pandemic,
A life size bronze of Cody’s Wish standing with his head lowered is the centerpiece of the new monument. It was a conscious decision not to include Cody in the piece, but instead to leave the space where he would have been in his chair free, so that anyone can pose with the horse, and his father, Kelly Dorman, said that’s exactly what his son would have wanted.
The statue is the first in the Kentucky Horse Park of a horse that’s still living. It’s flanked by a couple of stone walls bearing photos and inscriptions.
Sculptor Jocelyn Russell, who also created the Secretariat bronze on Old Frankfort Pike and Sgt. Reckless in the Horse Park, described how important it was to her that this piece be accessible, after losing her two nephews to muscular dystrophy.
Cody Dorman and his family: parents Kelly and Leslie, and younger sister Kylie, started going to watch their namesake race.
Cody’s Wish went on to become one of the best horses of his generation. Cody and the Dorman family were at 7 of his seven of his races, and Cody appeared in 6 win photos. They were at Keeneland to see the horse win the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile as a four year old in 2022 and at his last race before he retired, the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile the following year in Santa Anita.
The bond between horse and boy remained strong. Each time they saw each other again, the horse would lower his head gently into Cody’s lap.
Cody died the day after that final race on his way back home to Kentucky. He was almost 18 years old.
Cody’s Wish has embarked on the next stage of his life as a breeding stallion at Jonabell Farm. His first foals were born this year, and the Dorman family still visit him regularly.
Almost two years after that final race, the unveiling ceremony took place on a crisp morning in October sunshine, a perfect Kentucky Fall day.
Steve Buttleman, the Churchill Downs bugler played the call to post and over the next hour and a half Cody’s family, friends and connections shared their favorite memories.
“Their song”, Kacey Musgrave’s Rainbow, they shared, held a special place in their heart as it reminded them of Cody’s spirit.
As he talked, Cody’s sister Kylie handed her father the tablet her mother had been cradling, the tablet Cody used to communicate.
The crowd assembled was several hundred strong and yet it felt very personal and intimate. We stood in silence and listened, we cried together and sometimes we laughed. We remembered, and above all we gave thanks.
