Came Home Aces First Test at a Longer Distance

Came Home passed his first important 3-year-old exam Saturday at Santa Anita.

Making his initial start around two turns, the son of Gone West and 3-5 favorite took advantage of a good trip, winning by three lengths over 11-1 longshot Easy Grades and five others in the $200,000 San Rafael Stakes. He completed the mile in 1:36 1/5.

Still ahead, however, are more significant--and longer--tests. The question with Came Home has never been ability, but rather how far he would run. His pedigree suggests distance limitations and many have questioned whether he is truly a mile and a quarter horse, the distance of the Kentucky Derby.

After the colt’s fifth victory in six starts, jockey Chris McCarron and John Toffan, who owns Came Home with Trudy McCaffery, Bill Farish and John Goodman, were confident about the immediate future.

That would be the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 6. In that Grade I, Came Home will stretch out another furlong to 11/8 miles. Then, presumably, if all goes well, it will be on to Churchill Downs.

“I never had a problem about [distance],” Toffan said. “One of the writers had a problem with it. He can do a little more than sprint. It didn’t look like he was going to stop for a while today.”

Of course, other recent San Rafael winners have been found wanting when tried beyond a mile. Horses like Crafty C.T., who was impressive winning his comeback sprint earlier on the card, Orville N Wilbur’s, Funontherun and Honour And Glory come to mind.

Content to sit second while eventual third-place finisher Werblin set a leisurely pace (232/5 and 472/5 for the half-mile), Came Home took over the lead nearing the stretch and wasn’t fully extended en route to his second stakes win of the meet.

A month earlier, in his first race since he checked in seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last Oct. 27, he had won the seven-furlong San Vicente by four lengths.

“I was more than pleased, I was ecstatic after the race,” said McCarron, who won his fourth San Rafael, but his first since Dinard in 1991. “Obviously, he looked like the best horse on paper, but the way he finished was very promising.

“He settled better last time than he did today. He was a little keener for this one. I’m going to take a shot in the dark and think that, sometimes, a horse can be a little more aggressive in their second race back.

“I didn’t have any qualms about his ability to get a mile going into this race, but now he showed me he will go a mile and an eighth. The next eighth of a mile after that, who knows?”

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Before Bobby Frankel won his first Santa Anita Handicap with Milwaukee Brew, the hall of fame trainer had another stakes first of sorts Saturday.

Decarchy, one of three horses he saddled in the $300,000 Jimmy Kilroe Mile, outnodded 15-1 longshot Sarafan to give Frankel his first win in the race re-named two years ago in honor of Santa Anita’s late longtime director of racing. Frankel had won the Grade II with Tychonic in 1996 when it was called the Arcadia Handicap.

Like Milwaukee Brew, Decarchy, a 5-year-old son of Distant View and an 8-1 outsider, was ridden by Kent Desormeaux as he won by a neck in 1:34 over the turf.

Sarafan, one of two horses sent out by trainer Neil Drysdale--the other, Irish Prize, finished seventh--wound up a head in front of Designed For Luck, who beat Val Royal, the 6-5 favorite, by a neck for third.

“We really got a fortunate trip,” Desormeaux said. “Everything set up nicely. It was a very, very game win.”

Especially considering he was hit in the face by the whip of jockey Victor Espinoza, who was riding Designed For Luck, three times in the stretch.

Making his first start since winning the Breeders’ Cup Mile, Val Royal had no visible excuses, but the plan is to take him to Dubai for the $2-million Duty Free on March 23.

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Jockey Fernando Valenzuela was to undergo surgery on a broken left arm Saturday night. He was unseated when his 11th-race mount, Ceelinctive, jumped a shadow on the backstretch.

Valenzuela’s agent, Eddie Garcia, said that Valenzuela already had a plate in the arm, the result of an earlier spill.

Garcia estimated Valenzuela would be sidelined five months.