A legacy Intervet-Schering Plough cattle growth enhancer called Zilmax® is apparently now a "banned substance" -- in horse racing circles -- after reports of "illicit" use (as a previously untested-for substitute for steriods), in US thoroughbred racehorses.
Here's a bit -- do go read it all -- in Thoroughbred Times:
". . . .This has no business being in a racehorse," RCI President Ed Martin said. "If found, then we’re treating this as a deliberative attempt at cheating."
Merck & Co. Inc.’s Intervet Schering-Plough Animal Health markets zilpaterol hydrochloride as the cattle feed supplement Zilmax, and Martin expects that horsemen are most likely using it as a substitute for steroids.
Regulators in Oklahoma first brought the drug to the RCI’s attention and that security personnel in various jurisdictions also picked up chatter on the drug. RCI member jurisdictions directed their laboratories to begin testing for the drug this year, and Martin said there have been a few positive tests. . . .
Well, I guess that's at least one (illicit) market window closing, here. . . .
1 comment:
Condor: Zilmax is not approved for use in equine and is specifically labeled to not be fed to horses. There is a published report (by a USDA research group) that indicates what happens to horses that eat zilpaterol hydrochloride..........let's just say they would not be racing.......incrased heart rate, sweating, and other side effects. Intervet conducted a safety study in equine (just in case a horse ate cattle feed with zilmax) which was shared with the FDA. I doubt that this will be an issue or that the racing industry is using the product to cheat.
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