Cody's Wish brushes off slow start, holds off Accretive in Vosburgh
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Cody’s Wish rebounded from his loss in the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes two months ago by overcoming a slow start and a stubborn foe in Accretive to win Sunday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Vosburgh Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths at Aqueduct.
Accretive, who set the pace under Irad Ortiz Jr., held second by 3 1/4 lengths over Great Navigator. Sherriff Bianco, High Oaks and Cowan completed the order of finish.
The victory, while not flashy, should be good enough to set Cody’s Wish up for a repeat bid in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 4, which will be the final race of his career.
“It wasn’t so brilliant that you have to worry about taking everything out of him, but it was enough to see that he still wants to do it and he can do it,” winning trainer Bill Mott said.
Cody's Wish, under Junior Alvarado, was moving in the gate when the doors opened and he got away last and was about four lengths back at one point. Accretive went to the lead, but wasn’t going overly quick that Cody’s Wish was able to move into second, just a half-length off him by the time the half-mile was run in 46.12 seconds. Cody’s Wish ran outside of Accretive until inside the sixteenth pole before he gradually began to pull away.
“I don’t think he had a chance to get his feet under him and he breaks flat-footed out there again,” Alvarado said. “The pace wasn’t going too fast, so it gave him a chance to put himself into contention. At the three-eighths pole, I let him go little by little and those two horses put a good run from the three-eighths to the wire.”
Cody’s Wish, who won for the 10th time in 15 starts, covered the seven furlongs in 1:21.83 (100 Beyer Speed Figure) and returned $2.30 as the 1-9 favorite. Cody’s Wish is a 5-year-old son of Curlin owned and bred by Godolphin.
Accretive, who as a 3-year-old came within a neck of Gunite in the Grade 2 Amsterdam, gave Cody’s Wish a fight until the last sixteenth.
“Irad rode him perfect, I told him if you could somehow sneak away with a 46-second half going seven that’s your only chance to maybe hold him off,” said Chad Brown, trainer of Accretive. “But I could tell when [Cody’s Wish] walked into the paddock, he was going to be tough to deal with. Bill and his team had the horse looking like a billion dollars. I thought my horse did well to run second.”
Accretive could be a candidate for the Grade 2, $300,000 Forty Niner Stakes here on Oct. 28.
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