Despite the criticism, Came Home keeps on winning

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Too small. Won't go the distance. No chance to win the Kentucky Derby.

That's the take on Came Home, the hardworking colt who just keeps winning despite such supposed shortcomings.

"I can't do anything about what people are saying," Came Home's trainer Paco Gonzalez said, probably for the umpteenth time. "He's been doing great. He's done everything he's been asked to. Everything has been perfect so far."

With six wins in seven starts, including the Santa Anita Derby on April 6, Came Home will be one of the favorites for Saturday's $1 million Derby, along with Harlan's Holiday. But the dark bay son of Gone West still has to prove he can win going long despite bloodlines that say he can't.

"Looking at his speed figures, his performance gets steadily worse with every additional furlong he runs," said Andrew Beyer, handicapper and racing columnist for The Washington Post.

Going the distance

Nonetheless, Came Home is still winning, even as the distance increases. He's 3-for-3 this year, taking the seven-furlong San Vicente by four lengths, the mile San Rafael by three lengths and the 1 1-8-mile Santa Anita Derby by 2 1/4 lengths.

"He's won every race by daylight," co-owner John Toffan said Monday after watching his colt work five furlongs at Churchill Downs in a sharp 1:00.60 under jockey Chris McCarron.

"First he couldn't run seven furlongs. Then he couldn't run a mile, then he couldn't run a mile and an eighth. Now he can't run a mile and a quarter."

Can he?

"The way he's training., I don't think he's going to stop," Toffan said.

His only loss -- in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in October -- could be a blessing, too. Since the start of the Breeders' Cup in 1984, no BC Juvenile winner has won the Derby.

At 15.3 hands, Came Home is slightly on the short side, but Gonzalez said the horse looks even smaller because he's so muscular. His mother, Nice Assay, was a sprinter and thus the knock on Came Home's ability to win at longer distances.

"I'm confident he can get the distance," said McCarron, who has been with Came Home since the start.