Came Home represented by first winner

Multiple Grade 1 hero CAME HOME (Gone West) had his first winner as a sire on

Thursday when his two-year-old daughter Beautiful Venue captured the 3RD race at

Keeneland. Trained by Barbara Beagle, the dark bay miss provided a bit of

excitement for her connections when she unseated jockey Mark Guidry during the

post parade and took off down the track. Caught by an outrider after going about

three-sixteenths of a mile, she was returned to the post parade and got down to business

once the gates opened.

Beautiful Venue found herself a half-length back of Joangel (Abajo) during the first quarter while running three and four wide,

but quickly asserted herself and took over to win the 4 1/2-furlong

maiden special weight event by three lengths going away. The juvenile lass was

making her career debut.

Came

Home also started off his career in style, taking a Hollywood Park maiden

special weight by eight lengths in his career debut in 2001. He immediately made the

jump into graded competition in his next start, scoring a four-length victory in

the Hollywood Juvenile Championship S. (G3), before moving on to Saratoga and

taking the Hopeful S. (G1) by two lengths. Came Home ended his two-year-old

campaign with a seventh in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), which would be the

first of only three non-winning performances during his career.

The Juan Gonzalez trainee would go on to take six races as a sophomore,

including the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and Swaps S. (G2), and showed he could

handle his elders with a three-quarter of a length victory in the 1 1/4-mile

Pacific Classic (G1) in late August of 2002. Came Home ended his stellar career

with an off-the-board run in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) and was retired soon

thereafter with $1,835,940 in earnings after putting together nine wins from 12

starts during two seasons of racing. He is out of the Grade 3-winning Nice Assay

(Clever Trick) and counts Grade 2 queen A. P. Assay (A.P. Indy) as a

half-sister.

Came Home stands at Lane's End Farm near Versailles, Kentucky, for a $40,000

live foal fee.