Coliseum

COLISEUM (c, Tapit&log=#tot">Tapit–Game Face, by Menifee)
'TDN Rising Star'. O-Godolphin LLC. B-Godolphin (KY). T-Bob Baffert. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $31,800.
Last Start: 1st, Maiden Special Weight, DMR, Nov. 17
Next Start: Aiming for GIII Sham S., SA, Jan. 5
Equineline PPs. KY Derby Points: 0.
A horse needs a “Wow!” effort to crack the Derby Top 12 off a maiden win alone, and 'TDN Rising Star' Coliseum delivered with a flourish at first asking when unveiled at 1-2 odds in a seven-furlong MSW at Del Mar Nov. 17. Godolphin's well-meant homebred made all the running with devastating ease, widening under a light hold entering the turn before deftly clicking into a secondary stretch gear—hardly his last—when nudged home by jockey Joe Talamo before being taken in hand 6 3/4 lengths clear of the competition at the wire. Prior to his debut, Baffert told TDN's Bill Finley that Coliseum can be a bit of a problem child to train. “He's a nice horse, but he's a Tapit and has a lot of typical Tapit issues,” Baffert said. “He can be a head case. In the middle of his works he just wants to take off.”

VIDEO PPS