Godolphin Extending Remarkable Run in Breeders' Cup

Winning a Breeders' Cup World Championship is remarkable and winning two in a given year unbelievable. Yet, here is Sheikh Mohammed's international juggernaut Godolphin positioned again to take home multiple trophies after having already accomplished this feat for two consecutive years.

In 2021, Godolphin saddled six starters and celebrated victories by Modern Games  (Juvenile Turf, G1T), Space Blues  (Mile, G1T), and Yibir  (Turf, G1T). Last year, nine starters carried Godolphin royal blue silks and four came home winners: Cody's Wish   (Dirt Mile, G1), Mischief Magic  (Juvenile Turf Sprint, G1T), Modern Games (Mile), and Rebel's Romance  (Turf).

Godolphin is this year's leading owner by number of Breeders' Cup starters with eight—all of them homebreds—and is additionally the leading breeder by number of starters with nine (including one co-bred with Machmer Hall). By total North American earnings for the year, the stable is already tracking ahead of where it was at this point last year at $13,868,417 and could easily beat last year's total of more than $16.3 million or even exceed its personal best year in 2021 with more than $17.4 million.

"It is hard to believe we've had three years in a row like we're having at the moment and to come into 2023 and have as strong a year, it is a fantastic position to be in, and we're grateful for it," said Michael Banahan, director of bloodstock for Godolphin USA. "A couple of the 3-year-olds have stepped up along with some of the older horses; you always need the new team players coming off the bench, and we've been fortunate."

Cody's Wish and Proxy   are a couple of the older horses that have kept their form and contributed to the year's graded stakes tally and millions in earnings.

Cody's Wish, a 5-year-old son of Curlin  , is the defending Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner who has won three of four starts this year and banked $1,253,900 so far. Proxy is a 5-year-old son of Tapit   with a 2-2-0 record from six starts this year and earnings of $1,253,750.

"We've been lucky enough that our older horses have held their form well or progressed again with the addition of a year. It doesn't always hold out," Banahan said. "There are horses that come back that you are very excited about but for one reason or another it doesn't work out. It is a big decision to keep them in training; not as easy as just saying let's give them another year. You have to think there is more green grass out there and look like we can enhance their résumés."

All of which happened with Cody's Wish and Proxy, who will both be retired to stud at Darley Stallions at Jonabell Farm in Lexington following the World Championships.

Banahan calls Cody's Wish the "captain of our team" among the Breeders' Cup starters. The strapping bay trained by Bill Mott added two grade 1s to his record this year with wins in the Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) and Metropolitan Handicap (G1). Mott tried stretching the horse out to 1 1/8 miles in the Whitney Stakes (G1) where he finished third.

"It didn't work out for us in the Whitney, but he came back and went last to first in the Vosburgh (Stakes, G2), in a race that didn't really suit him," Banahan said. "It was so slow early on and he didn't break particularly well, but then he rolled home and he showed a lot of his greatness, putting them away at the end. I think there is plenty left there. He is training well and doing well."

Darley Stallions has already fielded many calls from breeders interested in Cody's Wish and Proxy, particularly Cody's Wish. Banahan said that isn't surprising because of the horse's connection to Richmond, Ky., teenager Cody Dorman. Dorman is wheelchair bound and unable to speak due to a rare genetic disorder called Wolf-Hirschorn syndrome. He visited Godolphin's Gainsborough Farm as part of a tour arranged by the Make-a-Wish Foundation and Keeneland in 2018. During this tour he made a connection with a then-unnamed Curlin colt that Godolphin named after Dorman.

"Cody's Wish will be very popular because his story has a lot of legs. He is probably the most recognizable horse in training, and there are a lot of people excited about seeing him," Banahan said. "Proxy, though, is a particularly nice horse. I think when people see him in the flesh, they will be taken with him. We are equally excited about both of them."

Among the other Breeders' Cup starters Banahan has high expectations for is Pretty Mischievous  in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), where she is 8-1 in the morning line; and Matareya , who is 6-1 in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1).

Pretty Mischievous, a daughter of Into Mischief  , is one of four 3-year-olds in the Distaff. She has had a championship-quality year with four wins and two second out of six starts and three grade 1 wins in the Kentucky Oaks (G1), Acorn Stakes (G1), and Test Stakes (G1). The filly trained by Brendan Walsh comes into the Distaff off a close second to Ceiling Crusher  in the Cotillion Stakes (G1).

"She has never really taken a break, but she seems to thrive on her racing," Banahan said. "Brendan has commented that the more you do with her, the better she gets. We thought after she won the Oaks, we would see her tail off in the summer but she has never let us down. She comes back from her races looking for more. When Brendan gives her an easy day then she is bucking and squealing the following day. It is a long year for these 3-year-olds, so it is interesting to see how they match up when they meet the older fillies. We expect her to run another big race."

Godolphin also will saddle Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) winner Wet Paint  in the Distaff. The daughter of Blame   comes into the Breeders' Cup off a 2 1/2-month layoff, having last raced in the Aug. 19 Alabama Stakes (G1) where she was second to Randomized .

Matareya, a 4-year-old filly by Pioneerof the Nile, has a couple factors working in her favor heading into the Filly and Mare Sprint. She has a solid record of three wins and three thirds at the Sprint's distance of seven furlongs and back in May she beat defending Filly and Mare Sprint winner Goodnight Olive  in the Derby City Distaff Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs.

"She has been in great form since running in the Ballerina and though she will have to step up again, she is a dual grade 1 winner and is training super," Banahan said. "We think she will run as good a race as she can. With the returning champion in there, it will be a tough race but we're glad to have her in there."

Another plus for Matareya and Godolphin is the filly's broodmare sire, the late Bernardini, who is represented by the second-most number of Breeders' Cup starters with six. Gainesway's multiple leading sire Tapit has the most with 13 (he is the broodmare sire of Cody's Wish and Pretty Mischievous).

Bernardini, who won the Preakness Stakes (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1), was bred and raced by Sheikh Mohammed under the Darley banner. He retired to the Lexington farm and has been enhancing a stellar sire career with an even stronger reputation as a broodmare sire. Among the leading North American broodmare sires with 70 or more cumulative stakes winners to date, Bernardini is by far the youngest (born in 2003). Only two other broodmare sires in this group were born in the 21st Century—Tapit (born in 2001 and with 87 stakes winners) and Empire Maker (2000, 77 stakes winners). Bernardini died in 2021 due to complications from laminitis. He was 18.

"I don't think we have seen another horse at this stage of his career as a broodmare sire do what he has been doing," said Banahan. "He was a favorite with everyone at Godolphin for years from his exploits at the racetrack, when he was an outstanding 3-year-old, to then see the accomplishments of his runners. He seemed to have an affinity for Saratoga, especially the Travers. Now seeing that come through his daughters is very fulfilling. We had a nice Bernardini 2-year-old filly that won at Keeneland for Brad Cox, so that story will go on and on for awhile."

The other Godolphin Breeders' Cup starters are the following: Master of The Seas  and Mawj  (Mile), and With The Moonlight  (Filly and Mare Turf, G1T).