Columnist Ralph Siraco: Came Home: Head of sophomore class

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Aug. 26, 2002 | 8:58 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.

This is a tale of three equine sophomores.

Each year at this time, the racing fraternity looks to test the mettle of the sport's glamour group as they venture out against their elders. And each year the industry hopes to develop a budding rivalry.

As soon as the Triple Crown classics are over, speculation reigns as to how effective the three-year-olds will be against the older handicap division.

The official baton was passed over the weekend from the prestigious Travers Stakes at historic Saratoga race course to the Pacific Classic at picturesque Del Mar.

The Travers, exclusively for three-year-olds, produced a solid representative from the East Coast while the Pacific Classic showcased the country's leading sophomore and a new but familiar player from the class of 1999.

The Pacific Classic also was the first big race of the year that pitted the three-year-olds against the older handicap horses.

Give round one to the upstarts.

Medaglia d'Oro attended a brisk pace on a sloppy track and withstood the late heat from Repent to win the 1 1/4-mile Grade I Travers in impressive fashion.

The Bobby Frankel trainee parlayed a daylight victory in the Grade II Jim Dandy to the $1 million "Midsummer Derby" and extended d'Oro's record to four wins from eight starts this year. Those latest victories at the spa have enhanced his stock and his trainer says the son of El Prado still has room to mature.

Trainer Bob Baffert decided to pass on another eastern trip with Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner War Emblem to stay home in Southern California and compete instead against older horses in the Grade I Pacific Classic. The popular son of Our Emblem did not scare off the competition for the $1 million seaside centerpiece as a record field of 14 lined up. Among them was another sophomore named Came Home.

While War Emblem broke from the crowded starting gate a bit tardy, he quickly recovered to stalk the early pace of Sky Jack and Bosque Redondo. War Emblem loomed to the leaders at the head of the homestretch but it was Came Home who had the most kick in the late stages of the 1 1/4-mile race. In the end, it was the "little-train-that-could" who toppled his elders while War Emblem finished sixth.

Of the three sophomores, only Came Home showed promise from his juvenile season. But many of the sport's breeding experts didn't believe a son of Gone West could get a classic distance, let alone beat the best the sport could offer.

Although Came Home started from auspicious beginnings, Medaglia d'Oro began his year a six-furlong maiden breaker at Oaklawn Park in February before Frankel purchased him for owner Edmund Gann. War Emblem split the field when fifth in a steppingstone stakes at the Fair Grounds race course in January before Baffert's well documented purchase for the late Saudi Prince Ahmed bin Salman, just four weeks before the Kentucky Derby.

The Pacific Classic victory proved Came Home's heart is a better barometer that bloodlines. Boasting a career record of nine victories from 11 starts, his only losses came in the Kentucky Derby and last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Although Medaglia d'Oro, Came Home and War Emblem have met only in the Kentucky Derby, War Emblem bettered Medaglia d'Oro in the Preakness before finishing eighth while Medaglia d'Oro was runner-up in the Belmont Stakes.

Since their Triple Crown tussles, Came Home won the Grade III Affirmed Handicap and the Grade II Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park. Medaglia d'Oro moved from his Belmont Stakes outing to the pair of victories at Saratoga. War Emblem recovered from his failed Triple Crown bid to take the Grade I Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park before his off-the-board run Sunday.

All three Triple Crown survivors, along with comebackers like Repent, are mapping their route on the road to Chicago.

So while the sport may not be treated to a Affirmed-Alydar or Sunday Silence-Easy Goer rivalry, the sophomores themselves may be their most serious challengers when they take on all comers in the World Thoroughbred Championship Breeders' Cup at Arlington Park on Oct. 26.

And, one may come home -- or is that Came Home? -- with the trophy.

archive