How Cody's Wish Helped Eddie Davis Land on His Feet

It was January, and Eddie Davis was in a world of hurt.

His dream of becoming a successful trainer on the tough New York circuit seemingly disappeared before it started. Four-plus years of the daily grind on the backstretch had produced little fruit for the eager Davis, now 32.

He was busted. Dead broke.

"It got to a point where I had six horses and only two of my clients were paying me," Davis said. "It got to where I could not even go to the gas station and get gas. It really got bad."

And then, all of a sudden, the light got bright. Davis, who comes from a horse racing family, has come out of his equine abyss and frowns and disappointments have been replaced with smiles and laughs.

Being around the best racehorse in the country will do that.

Davis is part of the team at Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott's barn that works with the wildly popular 5-year-old horse named Cody's Wish , who is No. 1 on the NTRA Top Thoroughbred poll and the top-rated dirt horse and top-rated U.S.-based runner in the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings. 

Davis climbs aboard Cody's Wish every morning as his exercise rider and puts him through his daily paces on the Oklahoma Training Track in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., which is spitting distance from Mott's barn.

Before getting to where he is now, a little backstory on Eddie Davis who was known in the program as Edmund Davis when he tried to make a living as a trainer. 

He is one of six children of former jockey Robbie Davis and his wife Marguerite. Three of his siblings—sisters Katie and Jackie and brother Dylan—are jockeys. Robbie has been a trainer since 2011 and has had minimal success.

Eddie knew from an early age that he wanted to be part of the horse scene.

"My dad was a jockey when I was growing up," Eddie said. "I was the kid who would run home from school and watch the races on TV."

He went to Saratoga Springs High School and was on the wrestling team. He was never a champion, but no one mopped the mat with him, either.

"Wrestled four years," Eddie said with a trace of pride in his voice. "Third in the sectionals my senior year. I never went to States, but I gave a couple of the boys that did a run in some local matches."

What he wanted to do was to follow his dad to the jockey's room, but he got too big too quick. Riding was out, but he was determined to stay in the game. After graduating from high school in 2008, he found his way to the backstretch. Besides working with his father, he also had a stint with trainer Jimmy Jerkens.

In the Jerkens barn, he galloped horses like grade 1 winners Delta Prince , Preservationist  , and Shaman Ghost  . In 2019 he made the move to go out on his own. And he struggled mightily.

He did get his first win in his 17th training start with a horse named Tiz Morning  on April 28, 2019, at Belmont Park, and he thought this game might work out. It didn't.

The final score for Davis was 10 wins, 34 seconds, and 29 thirds from 234 starters. Total earnings for his horses was $842,820. He ended his training career with no wins in his last 52 starts. After four starts this year, he threw in the towel.

He went to Mott's barn at Belmont and told his tale to Mott's New York assistant, Leanna Willaford.

"I told her, 'I'm down, I need help,'" he said. "I asked if she had any work for me and she said to show up the next day. She put me on four or five horses that day. It was the same day they won the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) with Art Collector. I thought, 'I must be in the right spot.'"

Things got better. Davis told Willaford that Saratoga—home—was where he wanted to be and that's where he went when the Oklahoma opened in mid April. Davis has a 2-year-old son, Kasen, who splits time with him and the boy's mother.

That was another reason he wanted to be close to home.

He got on some horses and Mott liked what he saw. Davis, though, could never have predicted what was coming. One day in May, Davis looked at the riding assignments on the barn wall and saw Cody's Wish's name. Right next to it was his name. Talk about a double take.

That's how he found out.

"That was such a huge honor," Davis said. "Bill was on the pony that day and he looked over at me when we were walking to the track and said, 'Son, I hope you know you are riding one of the fastest horses in America right now.'"

Davis and Cody's Wish have been a team ever since. When the big horse has his breezes, Mott's assistant Neil Poznansky takes over.

The daily gallops belong to Davis.

"Eddie is a good hand," Mott said. "He is very capable, he's good on the horse. He does a nice job and he is proud to be on him."

On a recent Saratoga morning, Davis and Cody's Wish were on the Oklahoma. The horse stood by the outside rail with Davis just taking in the scene. They remained there for 10 minutes before going off for the gallop.

"Some days, he just gives you chills," Davis said. "The horse is so big, but the athleticism that comes with it is absolutely amazing. He can run from here to there in no time. I don't know if I have ever been or ever will be on another horse like that in my life."

"He gets along with him quite well." Mott said. "The horse is big and strong and aggressive. Eddie just does a good job with him."

Cody's Wish is the inspiring, feel-good story in racing because of the horse's relationship with Richmond, Ky., teenager Cody Dorman, who was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects many parts of the body.

Cody's Wish is named for young Cody and the horse has won six straight races, four of them grade 1s. 

Davis, like most, is touched by the story. He wants it to keep rolling and will do all he can to help.

"Forget it, there is no way around it," Davis said. "It's an absolutely amazing story and the fact that (Cody's Wish) has turned out to be what he is makes it a million times better. Really does."