BOB FORTUS writing for The Biscayne-Times New Orleans reports:
Ten horses [who] raced at Louisiana tracks tested positive recently for the powerful, pain-killing drug dermorphin, and the Louisiana State Racing Commission is gathering information to determine which trainers might be charged with rules violations, executive director Charlie Gardiner said Thursday.
Dermorphin is an opiod peptide – an amino acid found naturally in certain species of frogs but likely being synthetically produced for improper use in horses, said Steven Barker, a chemist who is head of the state testing laboratory at LSU.
“It’s far more potent that morphine,’’ Barker said.
There’s no legitimate use for dermorphin in racing, he said. “This drug in horses is an abuse of the horse,’’ he said. “This puts the horse’s life in danger. It puts the jockey’s life in danger. This is an attempt to cheat. This is bad stuff. This is doping.’’
What next? The ills of American horse racing just keep on coming. Read full report >>
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