Cody’s Wish to G1 Forego
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.— After racing against older horse division leaders Flightline and Life Is Good in his last two outings, Speaker’s Corner will venture to the West Coast for the Grade 2, $250,000 Pat O’ Brien on August 27 at Del Mar.
The Godolphin homebred son of Street Sense was initially slated to take on another heavy hitter in Jackie’s Warrior in the Grade 1, $600,000 Forego on the same day at Saratoga. Instead, Godolphin will point Cody’s Wish, a two-time stakes winner this year, to the seven-furlong Spa test. Both horses are trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott.
“More than likely, he’ll run in the Pat O’Brien,” said Godolphin’s director of bloodstock Michael Banahan. “We think both horses are very close in ability. Speaker’s Corner won a Grade 1 already and this could be an opportunity for Cody’s Wish to jump up there. Obviously running against Jackie’s Warrior is going to be no easy task, but Speaker’s Corner has run against Flightline and Life Is Good in his last two races.”
Speaker’s Corner earned his first Grade 1 victory in the Carter on April 9 at Aqueduct, where he earned a career-best 114 Beyer Speed Figure. The win came following a pair of graded stakes triumphs going a one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park. Meanwhile, Cody’s Wish, a son of Curlin, captured the Grade 3 Westchester on May 7 at Belmont Park before winning Churchill Downs’ Hanshin on July 4.
Banahan noted that the connections are taking a divide-and-conquer approach in splitting both horses up in pursuit of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on November 5 at Keeneland.
“We want to split up those horses and figure out the best way to get to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile,” Banahan said. “Cody’s Wish has a different running style and that might suit us better in the Forego doing that. That was sort of our thought process, and we’ll see how they work before making a final decision.”
NYRA Press Office
Photo: Speaker’s Corner wins the G1 Carter (NYRA/Coglianese)
