Freshening 'helped' Coliseum, who's back to work for Baffert

Coliseum, an early hype horse on the Kentucky Derby trail who never quite could get the mental side of racing down in time for the Triple Crown series, is back in training with Bob Baffert.

Any difference after a few months of freshening?

“He’s still gray,” Baffert quipped.

“It’s helped him a little bit,” the trainer added. “We’re really just getting him going again.”

The son of Tapit returned to the work tab Friday at Los Alamitos, putting in his first three-furlong breeze in 38.60 seconds.

Coliseum finished third in his previous start, the Feb. 10 San Vicente Stakes (G2) over a sloppy Santa Anita Park track. Baffert called for some new equipment hoping to corral the headstrong colt, including a Citation bit to give jockey Mike Smith control.

Two back, another issue with Coliseum came to light. He walked out of the gate in the Jan. 5 Sham Stakes (G3), essentially losing at the break as an odds-on favorite.

But on debut, everything went right when the Godolphin homebred blitzed his maiden special weight foes by 6 3/4 lengths on Nov. 17 at Del Mar. From there, the Derby talk ramped up as Baffert went to work diagnosing behavioral issues.

“From the get go, he came in a little wired up,” Baffert said. “It’s hard to diffuse him. We thought the time off would help, and it has. We’re still trying to get him there.”

Baffert has two other sophomores working toward their respective comebacks to watch.

Tale of the Union, a New York-bred campaigned by Michael Lund Petersen — he also has the multiple graded winner Mucho Gusto — won his Aug. 28 debut at Del Mar by eight lengths. Off since then, he breezed twice last month at Los Alamitos.

“The one that’s back is Magic On Tap — by Tapit,” Baffert said. “He looks good. He’s probably to the most perfect specimen of a Tapit you’ll see. He’s beautiful.”

The Summer Wind Equine homebred won his only start, on Sept. 1, by 2 1/2 lengths over future Derby trail runners Gray Magician and Extra Hope. Magic on tap has breezed consistently for nearly a month with Baffert’s main Santa Anita string, on Friday clocking five furlongs in 1:00.40.