Sailor's Cap was victim of colitis X

Sailor's Cap, winner of the Grade 3 Poker Stakes at Belmont Park on June 14, died of probable cardiac arrest from an underlying condition of colitis X, according to Barry Irwin, president of Team Valor International.

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.

Sailor's Cap, a son of Distant View, won 4 races from 10 starts and earned $616,970. As a 3-year-old, he won the Grade 3 Colonial Turf Cup and was second, beaten a neck, in the Grade 3 American Turf at Churchill Downs.

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.