Came Home Dies at 22 in Japan

Came Home , a grade 1-winning son of Gone West  and a sire first in Kentucky and then Japan, died July 8 after a bout with colic. He was 22.

Bred in Kentucky by the late John A. Toffan and Trudy McCaffery out of the Clever Trick mare Nice Assay, Came Home failed to meet his reserve on three occasions—as a weanling on a $650,000 bid at the 1999 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale; as a yearling on a $300,000 bid at the 2000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale; and as a 2-year-old at the 2001 Barretts March Selected Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, where the hammer fell at $145,000.

He was sent to trainer Paco Gonzalez and made his debut racing for Toffan and McCaffery through three straight wins, including the 2001 Hollywood Juvenile Championship Stakes (G3) at Hollywood Park  at second asking and the Hopeful Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course in his third out.

W.S. Farish and John B. Goodman joined Toffan and McCaffery for the remainder of the colt's career. He rebounded from a seventh in the 2001 Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) to again reel off three straight wins: the 2002 San Vicente Stakes (G2), San Rafael Stakes (G2), and Santa Anita Derby (G1). He was sixth in the Kentucky Derby (G1) won by War Emblem , and again won three straight wins against his division in the Affirmed Handicap (G3) and Swaps Stakes (G2) before taking on elders with success in the Pacific Classic Stakes (G1).

In that race, the highlight of his career, Came Home was sent off at odds of 10-1 but defeated the likes of War Emblem, Pleasantly Perfect, and Milwaukee Brew with a four-wide move that saw him win the 1 1/4-mile test by three-quarters of a length. His career wrapped up in his next start, when he finished 10th of 12 in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Arlington International Racecourse. He retired with nine wins—eight of them in stakes company—from 12 starts, for earnings of $1,835,940.   

Came Home was retired first to Lane's End, where he stood from 2003-07. He was then exported to Japan, where he stood at Shizunai Stallion Station starting in 2008. He stood at Kyushu Stallion Station in 2018.

His top performer is 2019 February Stakes (G1) winner Inti , his lone winner at the highest level to date and third last out in the listed Kashiwa Kinen Stakes at Funabashi in May. He was represented by 11 stakes winners in the U.S., including his lone graded winner, 2008 La Habra Stakes (G3T) winner Passion. Through July 8, he has 491 winners worldwide. 

Watch Came Home Win the 2002 Pacific Classic