The Albany Times-Union launched the first in a series of investigative reports into New York racing on Feb. 6, beginning with a piece focusing on the state's drug testing program through the prism of the ongoing federal doping case.
The Times-Union's Emilie Munson conducted an interview with Dr. George Maylin, director of the New York Equine Drug Testing and Research Laboratory, who explained what many in racing have heard before — that testing labs can't find a new performance-enhancing substance in a post-race test unless they know what exactly the substance is. Microdosing of some performance enhancers like EPO also makes them more difficult to catch, especially in post-race testing. Maylin indicated his lab could detect three types of EPO, but scientific literature has described as many as 82 varieties, according to the Times-Union.
Maylin also said that the number of samples collected from New York's horses has declined by more than 20 percent since 2015. Some of the decline — though not all of it — attributable to disruptions in racing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The New York State Gaming Commission declined interview requests from the newspaper.
The report also indicated that Maylin preserves samples in which his equipment has detected but been unable to identify a foreign substance, and has hundreds of them stored this way, some as many as 10 years old.
Contrary to state databases, which indicated that there were just 43 positive tests in New York in 2019 and most of those among harness horses, Maylin said there were 176 positive tests in that period, including out-of-competition tests, hair samples, and horses running at the state fairs. In 2020, Maylin said the lab found 86 positives.
“Not all positive tests result in violations depending on what is found and when,” wrote Munson.
The story is one result of more than six months of interviews and research by the local paper. Subsequent pieces, which are projected to be released in the coming days and weeks, will examine the role of investigators at racetracks, tax breaks granted to New York tracks, and the slaughter pipeline.
Read the full report at the Albany Times-Union
