Greyhound on cocaine blitzes Maitland race - ABC Online

Reporter Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop told an astonished Philip Clark from 1233 ABC Newcastle Mornings that the use of cocaine is not that uncommon in greyhound racing. (listen to attached audio)

"It was surprising to me but not to a lot of people in the industry," he says.

"There have been a number of positive cocaine tests over the years, and insiders tell us that many more slip through the net.

"It's a very expensive drug on the street, so it's interesting that it's being fed to dogs.

"Also EPO, amphetamines, caffeine, there was even a positive drug test for Viagra recently."

While pricey, the cocaine seemed to do the trick for the dog that ran at Maitland.

"Look, the dog did win, it blitzed the field at Maitland in March," Sean says.

"But it was tested straight afterwards and that drug test came back positive for a metabolite of cocaine."

In the past year 70 greyhounds have tested positive to banned substances, with half of those in NSW.

However that's actually a reduction on the previous year, when there were 50 positive tests in this State alone.

"What we've been told is that there are a lot more drug cheats slipping through the net, drugs like EPO, which is the performance-enhancing hormone that was used by Lance Armstrong for a long time," Sean says.

"It's used quite regularly, and we're told supplied by some vets to greyhound trainers."

The 7.30 reporter explains that EPO is hard to detect in urine alone, and while Greyhound Racing NSW recently doubled its drug-testing budget, the organisation isn't exactly flush with funds.

The NSW Greens and Shooters Party have formed an unlikely alliance to set up a parliamentary inquiry into the industry, which will be held in the next couple of months.

Sean says greyhound racing can be a bit of a backyard industry, with a lot of hobby trainers.

"We're told people like to try anything and everything in their backyards to see what will make their dog run faster," he says.

But it's not just hobby trainers who are doping, with Sean pointing out that one of Australia's and the world's leading greyhound trainers, from Victoria, was disqualified only yesterday for use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Australia's greyhound industry is the third-biggest in the world, with our punters betting around $3billion on the sport each year.

Greyhound Racing NSW declined 7.30's request for an interview, but released a statement saying it had ramped up its drug-detection activities over the past year, taking more than 5000 samples.