Came Home dies at age 22 after bout with colic

Multiple Grade 1 winner Came Home died last week in Japan after a bout with colic. The son of Gone West was 22.

Came Home, bred by John Toffan and Trudy McCaffery, was so named because he famously failed to meet his reserve three times when offered at public auction. He went on to race for Toffan and McCaffery, later joined by partners William S. Farish and John Goodman, winning 9 of 12 career starts and earning more than $1.8 million. His eight graded stakes wins included Grade 1 triumphs in the 2001 Hopeful Stakes and the following year’s Santa Anita Derby and Pacific Classic. In the Pacific Classic, he bested a field of 13 others that included two-time Santa Anita Handicap winner Milwaukee Brew and future Breeders’ Cup Classic and Dubai World Cup winner Pleasantly Perfect, and that year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner War Emblem.

Came Home was retired to the Farish family’s Lane’s End in Kentucky in 2003, and was exported to Japan to stand at Shizunai Stallion Station beginning in 2008. He stood one season at Kyushu Stallion Station in 2018. Came Home is the sire of 20 stakes winners, led by Japanese Grade 1 winner Inti, who captured the 2019 February Stakes. His other top international performers include Japanese graded winners Sound Rihanna and Tagano Tonnerre and Mexican Group 1 winner Antares. From 11 stakes winners in the United States, his lone graded stakes victor is Grade 3 winner Passion.