TRAINERS who dope racehorses with a bodybuilding hormone won’t evade
detection so easily now that Australian researchers have worked out a test for
the offending substance, a meeting of the British Endocrine Societies in
Birmingham heard this week.
Somatotrophin is a natural hormone but extra doses are given to cows to
increase milk yields. And in some countries it can be used legitimately to help
repair tendon or bone injuries in horses, or to improve the condition of old
horses that no longer race.
But because somatotrophin increases muscle strength—and would thus
affect the outcome of races—it is illegal…
