Coliseum Looks to Step Up in Sham

Godolphin's Coliseum (Tapit) was highly touted before his debut and duly delivered with a 'TDN Rising Star' performance going seven furlongs at Del Mar. Nov. 17. The striking gray colt will look to take that next step when he faces six rivals in the one-mile GIII Sham S. at Santa Anita Saturday. He has been working strongly since his debut, with three straight bullet drills topped by six furlongs in 1:12 2/5 (1/17) last Sunday at Santa Anita.

Baffert, who is looking for his sixth victory in 18 runnings of the Sham, will also saddle Three Chimneys Farm homebred Much Better (Pioneerof the Nile). The dark bay colt took his debut over the main track at Del Mar Sept. 1 before moving to the lawn for a runner-up effort in the Oct. 8 Zuma Beach S. He moves back to the dirt after finishing a well-beaten 14th in the Nov. 2 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

Gunmetal Gray (Exchange Rate), a 6 3/4-length maiden winner over the Sham's one-mile distance at Del Mar Aug. 22, was second behind expected 2-year-old champion Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the Sept. 29 GI American Pharoah S. He will be looking to rebound from a non-threatening fifth in the Nov. 2 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Keith Desormeaux will saddle a pair of outsiders in the Sham, with Silverton Hill's Sueno (Atreides) 20-1 on the morning line and Calumet Farm's Easy Shot (Trappe Shot) a 30-1 longshot.

“Sueno has come around like a real class horse should,” Desormeaux said of the winner of Golden Gate's Gold Rush S. “He's been developing and seems to accept the extra work we've put on him in order to participate in races like the Sham, so it's just a matter of if he's fast enough, and there's only one way to find out.”

Of Easy Shot, most recently a maiden winner versus $80,000 claimers, Desormeaux said, “We're kind of taking a shot with Easy Shot, pun intended. Calumet loves to compete at the highest levels. Mr. [Brad] Kelley does not need to be the favorite in every race he runs. He knows the only way to accumulate Derby points is to run for them. He loves to take a shot and we'll do that with Easy Shot.”