LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – For the last several years, we have been following the incredible story of Cody Dorman and his very special bond with a winning racehorse, Cody’s Wish, who is his namesake.
Cody passed away last year, but his story lives on.
News was released this week that two filmmakers will bring Cody’s story to the big screen.
At Jonabell Farm, a winning horse is a storyline that can easily come and go, and then there are horses like Cody’s Wish who re-write their story over and over.
He is a horse that solidified his place in racing history by defying the odds and having a little help from a very special friend, Cody Dorman.
The two formed a special bond after meeting during a Make-A-Wish visit in 2018.
At the time, the 5-month-old foal was unnamed, but that changed after he met Cody.
Despite having a rare genetic disorder and being nonverbal, Cody and his namesake, Cody’s Wish, embarked on a journey that never needed words.
“Cody always thought more of everyone else than he ever did himself. Everybody around him he put before himself with everything he had going on,” said Kelly Dorman.
Cody passed away last year at 17, a day after Cody’s Wish won his second Breeders Cup race and the final of his career.
Visiting Cody’s Wish is a place where the Dormans find peace.
“Cody has left us with a huge support group, of course, his horse racing family, you know he had a fishing family and he’s taken care of us as far as that,” said Dorman.
The story of Cody and his beloved friend has touched a lot of hearts around the world and it is a story that is not done yet.
“When you find a good story, you jump on it. Good stories are hard to find,” said Warren Ostergard.
Filmmakers Warren Ostergard and Jeff Celentano are pitched a lot of story ideas, but when a stranger pitched Celentano on Cody’s Wish she said this one was different.
“Okay, how special, and she said well, if I tell you the story, you will be crying in two minutes, and in one minute of her telling me a story, I had tears coming down my eyes,” said Jeff Celentano.
Celentano is the director of this year’s award-winning sports drama The Hill and Ostergard was a producer on the film.
The two have an eye for uplifting and inspiring stories.
“My goal is to do what Cody’s Wish’s story is doing to people now, it’s to make a movie about it so it reaches the masses and people walk out of that theater just high on hope and life and feel so great that they can do anything in their lives because Cody did the impossible,” said Celentano.
For the Dorman family trusting Celentano and Ostergard with their son’s story was not easy, but it felt right.
“I knew in a sense if someone came to us with tears in their eyes instead of stars in their eyes, that was something we needed to make note of, “said Dorman.
Kelly Dorman has always said the story of his son and Cody’s Wish is still writing itself, and it seems it was always destined for the big screen.
“Knowing how years to come this is going to fill people’s hearts and kids like Cody that’s going through all this adversity and people battling depression or anything else it’s just a little bit of light for them to focus on,” said Dorman.
Right now, the screenplay for Cody’s Wish is being written.
The filmmakers say the movie will largely be shot here in central Kentucky with some big-name stars.
They also say there will be an open casting call for extras.
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