Jockey Alvarado Wants to Keep it Going for Cody

Another chapter of horse racing's feel-good story will be written on Aug. 5 and jockey Junior Alvarado wants to make sure it still reads that way after the $1 million Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.

Alvarado is the pilot of Cody's Wish , winner of his last six starts, but is known for much, much more than that. The relationship that Cody's Wish, the 5-year-old horse, shares with Kentucky teenager Cody Dorman is a modern day tear jerker.

Cody Dorman, born with the rare genetic disorder Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome can not walk or communicate without using a tablet. Young Cody met a young horse at Godolphin's Gainsborough Farm as part of a Make-A-Wish Day in 2018 and boy and horse formed a bond that is still solid today.

The Dorman family will be at Saratoga for the Whitney and Alvarado wants to make sure the story keeps going.

"I have won many races," Alvarado, who won the 2014 Whitney with Moreno. "This is just special."

Alvarado has ridden Cody's Wish seven times during the son of Curlin  's 13-race career, including the last six straight. He has seen up close the relationship Cody's Wish has with Cody Dorman and he knows how real and special that relationship is.

"I love every part of it and I am happy to be a part of it," Alvarado said. "It is something I have never seen before. At first, I thought, 'they are animals, they will come to you if you feed them.' I saw with my own eyes their relationship. This is an inspiration."

Cody's Wish has done the heavy lifting during the winning streak, but Alvarado has been pushing the buttons while the horse was winning races like the Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park, the Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs (G1) this year and the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Keeneland and the Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga last year.

Alvarado said he did not feel too much pressure when the winning streak started. But, as it grew, and the story of Cody Dorman did too, it has built up.

It's always important to win a race but there is another reason to keep it going.

"If there was not this story behind it, I would still be 100% fine and ride my horse and be confident," Alvarado said. "I am still confident in the horse but I want to make sure this keeps going perfectly. Someone else needs this and horse racing needs it, too."