The feds gave New York key evidence on horse racing’s largest doping ring. State regulators have done nothing with it for years.
By Sam Mellins, NY Focus
On a frigid weeknight last month, the grandstand at the Yonkers Raceway was nearly deserted when Heave Away surged from behind to win the final race of the evening. It was the 153rd victory of the year for the horse’s trainer, Nicholas DeVita.DeVita was lucky to still be racing.
Two years earlier, a former FBI agent sent New York racing regulators evidence that numerous owners and trainers, including DeVita, had purchased illegal drugs meant to make their horses run faster. The veterinarian who sold the drugs, Seth Fishman, is now serving an 11-year sentence for running an international doping ring.Despite this evidence, the New York State Gaming Commission never punished DeVita — or hundreds of other trainers and owners implicated in the scandal.
According to New York Focus’s analysis of FBI documents and court records, at least 280 people or stables purchased illegal drugs from Fishman. Collectively, they have won over $40 million since the veterinarian’s conviction.
Yet aside from 12 people convicted as co-conspirators, the gaming commission has not banned, suspended, or fined anyone for buying Fishman’s drugs.
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