Consolidator retired

Consolidator will go to stud with two Graded stakes victories under his belt  (Jim Tyrrell/Horsephotos.com)

Breeders’ Futurity (G1) winner CONSOLIDATOR (Storm Cat) sustained a fractured sesamoid bone in his right front ankle,
forcing him out of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby (G1). Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said
that the three-year-old has been retired.

The chestnut colt took a few bad steps under exercise rider Stacy Prior
during a routine gallop Sunday morning. Lukas first noticed that there was a
problem during Consolidator’s afternoon walk around the shedrow.

“He was a little tentative on the turns and I was worried then,” Lukas said.
“I wanted to sleep on it. When I got here at 5:30 (EDT) in the morning
(Monday), my vet (Dr. Phil Tripp) and I visited and I told him, ‘I didn’t sleep
good. Let’s take an X-ray.'”

The Bob and Beverly Lewis colt will not have surgery
to repair the fracture and will instead be treated with stall rest.

“I think he’ll stay with me for a while,” Lukas added. “He will not run
again. I think he’ll have a stud career. With sesamoid injuries, you can bring
back a $25,000 claimer on Wednesday, but not this level of horse.”

Consolidator finished a distant fifth in the Blue Grass S. (G1) at Keeneland
in his last start after winning the San Felipe S. (G2) at Santa Anita on March
19. The colt will head to the
sidelines with a record of 10-3-1-1 and $661,760 in earnings.

The defection of Consolidator reduces the number of probable Kentucky Derby
entrants from 21 to 20 and will probably allow Illinois Derby (G2) winner
GREELEY’S GALAXY (Mr. Greeley) into the 1 1/4-mile race.