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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
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Hackles rise over cocaine found in dog
By Scott Van Voorhis
The case of the coked-up greyhound at Revere's Wonderland dog track has outraged animal-rights activists and raised concerns that gamblers may have been snowed.
You've heard of baseball players popping steroids. Olympic athletes cheating with blood transfusions. Now it's racing dogs on cocaine.
A greyhound who raced under the name ``Reese'' at Wonderland Park twice tested positive for cocaine, once late last year and again early this year, the Massachusetts Racing Commission's lab chief told the Herald.
``This is a very troubling development,'' said Carey Theil, head of Grey2K USA, which is battling to ban dog racing in Massachusetts and across the country. ``When greyhounds are testing positive for cocaine, gamblers should question whether the integrity of wagers has been compromised.''
Wonderland officials could not be reached for comment.
It is not clear how the dog was given the drug, or even why. But the suspicion is that the drug was given to enhance the greyhound's speed, activists say.
Reese, who now races at a New Hampshire track, was not known as a stellar performer. It was only after her two victories that the 3-year-old dog tested positive for cocaine, her trainer said.
Feeding a greyhound cocaine to make it run faster could be dangerous, given that the drug is likely to increase heart activity, said Peter Gollub, chief law enforcement officer for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
``Cocaine does tend to increase heart rates, it does increase cardiac excitability,'' Gollub said. ``In light of the fact that the heart of a greyhound is being tested, we certainly do have concerns about any drug that might affect it.''
State racing officials suspended Reese from racing at Wonderland for a short period late last year and early this year, while fining his owner $500. When another test found cocaine in the dog's blood a short time later, the Lynnfield-based trainer, Carl Petricone, was fined another $500 and suspended for 90 days.
Petricone vehemently denies giving Reese cocaine - or ever using the substance himself. He also noted that, in the course of racing, several other racetrack workers handled the dog.
With the dog-racing business in a funk, the fines outweighed any possible gain he could have made.
``I have been doing this since 1978, and all of a sudden I took a left turn?'' Petricone said. ``It is so bizarre. I can't come up with any logical explanation.''
The Revere greyhound is not the first racing dog to have tested positive for cocaine. Bruce Aspeslagh, head of the racing commission's testing lab, said there have been several other cases at Massachusetts racetracks over the years.
And four greyhounds recently tested positive at Rhode Island's Lincoln Park, while 40 tested positive at Florida tracks over the past three years.
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