"He was out for a routine gallop yesterday and took a couple of stumbles coming off the track," Lukas said. "He appeared to be all right, but seemed uncomfortable in the afternoon. When I arrived this morning, I decided to have an X-ray taken, and it showed he had fractured his sesamoid. It's really a shame, but at least (the Lewises) have another one (Going Wild) and we'll go with him."

Lukas said the colt would not require surgery. Consolidator will be treated with stall rest.

"I think he'll stay with me for a while," Lukas said. "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 won the grade I Lane's End Breeders' Futurity last year and the San Felipe this year in a blazing 1:40 for the 1 1/16 miles.

The Lewises won the Derby in 1997 with Silver Charm and in 1999 with Charismatic.

"We've been blessed – Bob and Beverly and especially myself – in this race," Lukas said. "It would be selfish of me to say, 'Oh, my gosh' and feel sorry for our situation."

The Lewises paid $1.25 million for the son of Storm Cat in 2003. Consolidator had three wins in 10 career stars and earnings of $661,760.

There were 21 horses trying to fit into 20 Derby starting spots. The withdrawal of Consolidator opens the way for Greeley's Galaxy, whose owner, B. Wayne Hughes, must pay a $200,000 supplement because the colt was not nominated to the Triple Crown.