The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission said July 11 that no dermorphin, a pain-killer more powerful than morphine, was found in samples tested from some horses that raced in this year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and Kentucky Oaks (gr. I).
The testing was performed by HFL Sports Science Laboratory in Lexington.
As reported earlier by The Blood-Horse, Dr. Mary Scollay, equine medical director for the KHRC, said the lab began testing for dermorphin in late June. That process included retrospective testing of samples taken from this year's Derby and Oaks entrants.
In Kentucky, a minimum of three post-race samples from graded stakes are tested, with the stewards typically selecting one more horse for testing, for a total of four per race, according to Scollay. She said there were five samples taken among the 20 horses that ran in the Derby and four from the Oaks.