Dog trainer given lifetime racing ban after authorities discover winning secret

A Greyhound trainer's license has been revoked by Florida officials after five of his dogs tested positive for cocaine back in January.

According to the Associated Press, veteran trainer Malcolm McAllistor's greyhound, named Flying Tidalwave, had cocaine coursing through its veins when it crossed the finish line in fourth place at Derby Lane -- the oldest continuously operating greyhound track in the United States.

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Over the next two weeks, four more dogs in McAllistor's kennels also tested positive for the drug.

The positive results brought a sharp end to an almost 40-year career of the trainer that a Derby lane executive once described as a "wonderful patriarch of the industry."

McAllister's racing license was permanently revoked in late April, according to records from the state's Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

"It is with great sadness and disbelief this very serious charge has been brought against me," McAllister wrote in a statement, in which he also added that the incident happened in the midst of him hiring a new trainer and employed four different helpers.

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"One of these undesirables had to have either dropped or administered the cocaine," he said, underlining the last four words emphatically, "It was not me."

One thing that remains unclear is whether the drug was intentionally administered to the dogs.

Cary Theil, the executive director of GREY2K USA, the country's largest greyhound protection organization, told AP that regulators never investigate how cocaine gets into the greyhounds' systems.

"There's really only two scenarios," said Theil. "An outright attempt to fix races, or the individuals who are caring for the dogs are using cocaine and the dogs came in contact with it in some way."

Records show that the greyhound industry in Florida has racked up 46 cocaine positives since 2008.