Came Home wins Swaps

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Came Home surpassed $1 million in earnings and won his fifth stakes of 2002 in Sunday's $500,000 , a performance that left new jockey Mike Smith wondering what the colt could have done if he had concentrated.

"He was looking around a lot more than I remember him doing," Smith said. Smith rode Came Home for the first time in the Grade 2 Swaps, replacing the retired Chris McCarron.

Sent off as the 1-2 favorite, Came Home led through fractions of 23.51 and 47.06 seconds and was never threatened, winning by 1 1-4 lengths over Like a Hero.

The longshot Battler Bob got within a half-length of Came Home at the end of the backstretch, but could not sustain the rally, leaving Came Home clear in early stretch. Under a hand-ride, Came Home finished 1 1-8 miles in 1:48.28, with Smith maintaining a comfortable margin through the stretch.

"I didn't want to get after him with the stick," Smith said. "I started doing more with my hands and it worked out."

Like a Hero, who was seventh in the Belmont Stakes, closed from fourth to finish a clear second, 5 1-2 lengths in front of Fonz's. Battler Bob finished fourth, followed by Gobi Dan, Tracemark and Sugar Babe.

"You've got to give credit to Came Home," said Beau Greely, who trains Like a Hero.

Trainer Paco Gonzalez described Came Home's performance in the Swaps Stakes "as one of his best races."

Owned by Bill Farish, John Goodman, Trudy McCaffery and John Toffan, Came Home has won 8 of 10 starts and $1,235,940. Earlier this year, he won the San Vicente Stakes, San Rafael Stakes, Santa Anita Derby and Affirmed Handicap. His only loss was a sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.