LEXINGTON, KY - The Association of
Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) has put all racing regulatory
agencies worldwide on notice of a finding by the New York Equine Drug Testing
Program of the presence of AH-7921 in post-race samples taken from horses that
recently ran at Belmont Park.
This is the first time AH-7921 has
been detected by a racing regulatory lab. The drug is one of the Novel
Psychoactive Substances (NPS) that continue to emerge onto the designer drug
market. Research has shown that AH-7921 can be as potent as morphine, yet its
core molecular structures do not resemble morphine or fentanyl which have been
detected in the past by racing regulatory labs.
NPS drugs are believed to be
compounded in order to avoid detection by human testing labs.
There is no legitimate reason for
AH-7921 to be present in a horse. The New York State Gaming Commission
summarily suspended Thoroughbred owner/trainer Roy Sedlacek as a result of the
finding.
“Dr. George Maylin and his team
should be commended for their persistent attention to emerging threats,” ARCI
Chairman Mark Lamberth said, noting that Dr. Maylin has consistently warned of
the threat posed by designer drugs and peptides. “This is excellent work on the
part of Dr. Maylin and the New York lab,” he said.
Another racing regulatory lab,
Industrial Laboratories, was the first to detect the hepta-peptide Dermorphin
in a race horse. Dermorphin is a natural opioid that binds as an agonist with
high potency and selectivity to mu Opioid receptors. AH-7921 is a selective
u-opioid receptor agonist with some effect on the K-receptor as well. Its use
can be highly toxic.
A copy of the New York State Gaming Commission ruling for Mr.
Sedlacek can be found here: https://rulings.gaming.ny.gov/searchrulings.detail.php?ID=36462
