Sailor's Cap Dies, winner of last years Colonial Turf Cup

[Moesha]

http://msn.foxsports.com/horseracing/story/9693264/Horse-dies-4-days-after-winning-Belmont-Park-race?GT1=39002

[imissvixen]

How would that happen?

I used to own an OTTB named Sailing Cup. Huge bay horse I bought in Louisiana in the late 70s. I can't find his pedigree online.

[Glimmerglass]

Not exactly Swale (who died suddenly 8 days after victory in the Belmont Stakes, not just any race at Belmont) but in that case it was a heart attack, in this case it's not clear.

DRF June 17, 2009 "Sailor's Cap dies suddenly in stall" (http://drf.com/news/article/104723.html)

Triumph turned to tragedy when the 4-year-old colt Sailor's Cap, the upset winner of Sunday's Grade 3 Poker Stakes at Belmont Park, died suddenly in his stall there early Wednesday morning.

Though Sailor's Cap spiked a temperature on Tuesday, the cause of death was not immediately known. The colt was sent to the New Bolton Equine Clinic in Kennett Square, Pa., for a necropsy.

Barry Irwin, head of the Team Valor International syndicate that owns Sailor's Cap, said he doesn't usually order necropsies on horses, but did so this time because "this one is a mystery."

Irwin said that Sailor's Cap had gotten sick on two occasions last year, including in November when he had travel difficulties when he shipped cross-country and back for the Hollywood Derby.

Irwin noted that though Sailor's Cap ran well Sunday, he didn't think the horse looked as good physically as he had at his peak last year.

"He looked like a horse that had already run and it was his first start," Irwin said.

According to Jimmy Toner, the colt's trainer, Sailor's Cap spiked a temperature of 101 degrees on Tuesday morning. Sailor's Cap's temperature is usually between 99.4 and 100.2 degrees, Toner said. Toner said Dr. Don Baker treated Sailor's Cap, but a little while later the temperature spiked as high as 103, at which time "we got more aggressive with the treatments," Toner said.

Toner said he received a call about 3:30 Wednesday morning from his night watchman that the horse was having a problem, and about an hour later, Sailor's Cap was dead.

[Glimmerglass]

Per The Daily Racing Form and the necropsy - probable cardiac arrest from an underlying condition of colitis X ([urk="http://drf.com/news/article/104854.html)

Irwin reported the initial necropsy results in an e-mail on Saturday morning.

Sailor's Cap died suddenly Wednesday in his Belmont Park stall. He was sent to the New Bolton Clinic in Pennsylvania for an autopsy.

Colitis X is a diarrheal disease of horses that causes dehydration, electrolyte imbalances and shock-like features. In the Sailor's Cap, the ailment was triggered by the bacteria Clostridium perfringens.