Salient suffers heat stroke after winning Saturday turf sprint

ARCADIA, Calif. - Salient, the winner of a maiden race for turf sprinters Saturday, suffered an extended bout of heat stroke after the race, but recovered quickly, trainer Ed Freeman said Sunday.

Salient, a 4-year-old gelding, collapsed after the race and was hosed with cold water while in the winner’s circle and again while being walked to the test barn. Salient recovered sufficiently to be transported to the San Luis Rey Downs training center in San Diego County Saturday evening, Freeman said.

“Heat stroke is really scary,” Freeman said. “Once he got through it, the horse was all right. He had a few cuts, but nothing serious.”

Salient had his fifth start Saturday and has suffered from heat stroke in the past, Freeman said. The gelding is co-owned by Dennis R. Miller and Freeman.

Freeman said Salient will not race again at the current spring-summer meeting, which runs through July 4.

“I’ll take him off Lasix completely,” Freeman said. “He’s a pretty good horse. We’ll investigate what we can do and what we can change. We’ll call in a couple of vets and get some advice.”