LOUISVILLE, Ky. (April 10, 2005) - Robert and Beverly Lewis' Consolidator, winner of the San Felipe (Grade II) and the Lane's End Breeders' Futurity (GI), sparkled in a swift five furlong breeze on Sunday at Churchill Downs that marked his final major prep for Saturday's Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (GI) at Keeneland.

The son of Storm Cat covered the distance for four-time Kentucky Derby (GI) winning trainer D. Wayne Lukas in :59.60. The move over a "fast" track tied as the second fastest of 20 at the distance.

"We didn't want a lot out of the work because we're right on top of this thing," said Lukas. "We had an awfully good work last week, so this one was just a matter of tuning it a little bit. I'm really comfortable with him. I think he gets over this racetrack well and hopefully he'll carry his form from last year at Keeneland (in the Lane's End Breeders' Futurity) back to the Blue Grass Stakes this year."

Consolidator finished last in a four-horse field in his 3-year-old debut in the San Vicente (GII) on Feb. 13 at Santa Anita, but rebounded to score a dominating 6 ½-length victory in the San Felipe (GII) on March 19 to reestablish his credentials as a major contender for Kentucky Derby 131. Lukas said the colt came out of a fourth-place finish to Wilko in last fall's Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (GI) with a quarter-crack and he treated Consolidator gently over the winter. The Hall of Fame trainer continues to take the blame for Consolidator's dull run in the San Vicente,, but he likes where the colt is sitting now with a little less than a month to go before the May 7 Kentucky Derby.

"I did a bad job and babied him through the spring a little bit, thinking that he was a little bit delicate and he's not," said Lukas. "We finally got him squared away in the last race and I thought that was the turning point, maybe, to push us forward this spring."

Lukas is looking for a big effort from Consolidator in the Toyota Blue Grass, but he acknowledges that a list of likely starters that includes Sun King, High Limit, Bandini, and Closing Argument will offer a strong test for his young star.

"It'll definitely be one of the definitive races," said Lukas. "We're starting to sort them out a little bit now and the pretenders are dropping by the wayside fast. I feel comfortable, although I think the Blue Grass is going to be a race that will probably establish the horses at the top end of this thing because it's one of the definitive preps.

Lukas said that his other Kentucky Derby hopeful, the Lewis-owned Going Wild, remains on the Derby trail despite a last place finish behind Bellamy Road in Saturday's Wood Memorial (GI) at Aqueduct.

"It was just too bad to believe," said Lukas. "He didn't warm up with any enthusiasm. He was listless in the post parade and everything, so I'm just going to throw it out. I know he's a better horse than that and he's had a very good spring. He's a very, very good horse and it didn't turn out well yesterday, but it's four weeks to the Derby and I think it's fixable."

BARN TALK - Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel said that Stronach Stable's 2004 "Horse of the Year" Ghostzapper has returned to the track after missing two weeks of training with a sinus infection. He galloped over the Churchill Downs surface for the first time on Sunday after jogging on Friday and Saturday. The son of Awesome Again is scheduled to return to competition in the $750,000 Metropolitan Handicap (GI) on May 30 at Belmont Park...Frankel's Louisiana Derby (GII) winner and Toyota Blue Grass contender High Limit is scheduled to work on Monday. His breeze is scheduled after the mid-session break for track maintenance...Wood Memorial (GI) winner Bellamy Road is scheduled to return to trainer Nick Zito's barn at Churchill Downs on Tuesday following a flight from New York...Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said that Oaklawn Handicap (GII) winner Grand Reward could run next in the $200,000-added Churchill Downs Handicap (GII) on Kentucky Derby Day. Lukas said he would also look at the Pimlico Special (GI) for the Storm Cat colt who is out of the brilliant Lukas-trained mare Serena's Song. "We're going to step up now a little bit," Lukas said. "That was a big, big effort for that horse."

WORK TAB (Track: FAST) -- Clock Stopper breezed five furlongs in :59.60...Stephen Foster (GI) winner Colonial Colony breezed five furlongs in 1:02...Lenatareese breezed four furlongs in 50.20...Capac breezed five furlongs in 1:01...Louisville Handicap (GIII) winner Silverfoot breezed five furlongs in 1:00.80...Storm Surge breezed five furlongs in 1:00.60 in a prep for Keeneland's Coolmore Lexington (GII)...Iroqouis (GIII) runner-up Social Probation breezed five furlongs in 1:01.60...America Alive, winner of the Col. E.R. Bradley at the Fair Grounds, breezed five furlongs in 1:01.40...Hawthorne Derby (GIII) winner Cool Conductor breezed a half-mile in :48.80.

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