Injury sidelines Exit Stage Left

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Berkeley, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - California Derby winner Exit Stage Left has suffered an injury and will be unable to compete in the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields next Saturday.

"The horse came back from galloping this morning and was injured," said trainer Jerry Hollendorfer Saturday. "There's no way to know why, or, actually, what happened, but the horse can't run. He's going to have to have some time off and that's all I can tell you."

Exit Stage Left notched his third stakes win in as many career starts when he won the Cal Derby. Co-owned by Hollendorfer and ridden exclusively by Hall of Fame jockey Russell Baze, the 3-year-old has $135,350 in earnings.

The chestnut colt won the Golden Nugget at Golden Gate in his first start as the even-money favorite on Nov. 9 and captured the Gold Rush Stakes four weeks later at the track as the 3-5 top pick.