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Speedhorse Paint & Appaloosa Triple Crown winner. At five, the Paint World Champion won the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Stakes-G1 for the third consecutive year and set a Remington Park season record for winning 13 races there. The PYC Paint Your Wagon colt out of High Class Turnpike, by SF Royal Quick Flash, stacked up
a 14-race winning streak during his 3-, 4- and 5-year-old years.
Cody considers his biggest
success up until he won the Sam
Thompson Award was winning
the Rainbow Futurity in 2019 on
Uncle D. “Growing up, my dream was to go to Ruidoso and win one of the Triple Crown races,” he says. “To win a million-dollar race—that’s something special!”
His successes stem from a natural ability with horses. “From the first time he strapped a saddle on a horse, it was like he’d been riding forever,” says his father Rodger. “When he leaves the gate, you can pick him out; he’s just smooth on the horse. And if he’s riding
within 100 yards of the finish behind you, he can close on you and cross that finish line first. But he doesn’t pat himself on the back. I’m his dad, so I can brag on him even if he doesn’t brag on himself!”
In addition to big wins and riding skills, his peers say they admire Cody’s exceptional work ethic, his talent for reading his horses’ abilities, and his gentleness and humility. “He’s just a phenom,” says trainer Matt
Whitekiller, whom Cody rides for regularly. “He doesn’t under-appreciate anything and has never gotten too
good to learn; he’s a super kid with a super work ethic. I’ve always been in that mindset of thinking less is more when it comes to whipping a horse, and Cody has never hurt a horse. And he’s dang sure
a Christian kid who takes those values to heart. He’s an exceptional dad who’s so close to his three kids. I’m just so proud of him and for him.”
ABOUT THE AWARD
Speedhorse Magazine, in conjunction
with The Jockeys’ Guild, modeled the Sam Thompson Memorial Jockey Award after
the Thoroughbred industry’s George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. The award is presented in honor of jockey Sam Thompson, a jockeys’ room leader during his riding career, which was cut short by a fatal riding accident in 2008. Sam served as Jockeys’ Guild senator,
Haley Luneach, Ava Smith, Rodger Smith, Cody Smith and Maci Smith
“From the first time he strapped a saddle on a horse, it was like he’d been riding forever.”
– Rodger Smith
“He’s just a phenom. He doesn’t under-appreciate anything and has never gotten too good to learn.” – Matt Whitekiller
Cody considers his biggest success up until he won the Sam Thompson Award as winning the Rainbow Futurity in 2019 on Uncle D.
52 SPEEDHORSE October 2022
Linda Earley, Speedhorse
Susan Bachelor, Speedhorse
Susan Bachelor, Speedhorse