By: Blood-Horse Staff
The New York State Gaming Commission has indefinitely suspended trainer Roy Sedlacek for two positives in October at Belmont Park for AH-7921, a synthetic opioid the Association of Racing Commissioners International said can be as potent as morphine.
The NYSGC scheduled a hearing on the matter for Nov. 10. Samples from Bossmon, who finished second in the fourth race Oct. 11, and Literata, who won the second race Oct. 18, came back positive for the drug after tests performed by the New York Equine Drug Testing Program.
Officials said the hearing “may result in the imposition of any legally available penalty including a license suspension or revocation and a fine not to exceed $25,000.”
ARCI officials said it’s the first time the drug has been detected by a racing regulatory laboratory.
“The drug is one of the novel psychoactive substances that continue to emerge onto the designer drug market,” ARCI said. “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.”
