Abstract

In the New York Times of 7 April 1901 appeared an article under the title “‘Dope’ An American Term.” The article noted that the word “is used most frequently as a term which implies impropriety, or at least the use of methods that do not come strictly within the provision of the rules.” The rules referred to are those of horse racing; the practice of doping horses with the intent of boosting performance was said to be at least a decade old by then. English racing fans – and bettors – worried that American “touts” were controlling the outcomes of races with “dope” – “a mysterious something that made slow horses fast and cowardly horses brave.”