from drf:


Mullins said it wasn't until after he administered the Air Power to Gato Go Win that security guards began asking questions.

mullins doing a dance about whether IWR got anything before the gotham. he said air power was sent over to the det barn with the colt that day as well. mullins claims he had two ny guys take the colt over that day, that he didn't go to the barn at all, and his own guys couldn't get licensed.

I wonder if Mullins applied Airpower without a syringe, would this story have any legs? I can't remember the poster's name but she sounded knowledgeable when she said it was the equivalent of giving a horse a cough drop, all this trouble for a menthol type based application?

The detention barn is there for a reason . Mullins knows the rules . He broke them according to all accounts . It was not "an innocent mistake" imo . It's up to the NYRA to do the right thing now since Mullins was not able to do so . The NYRA did scratch the horse which was the right thing to do at the time .

In the detention barn, I have to think it would be a big deal oral syringe or not.

The fact that he so much as admitted he was giving the same application to multiple horses, was probably about the worst thing he could say. Certianly goes against the "Gato Go Win just needed a cough drop" defense...

I just hope tomorrow we don't hear, "we will not comment on specifics as the incident is under investigation" but I know we will.

I agree that his comments were stupid, though if you are taking the "outrage" defense, Mullins comments are consistent.

What I don't get (and I have read the linked articles) is how he thought he would get away with such a risky move in the first place. It's like a bizarro story where nothing really makes sense.

Then again, I should remember that people do often have a warped sense of what they can get away with, to a degree that challenges objective reason. Eliot Spitzer comes to mind.

That said, it should be possible to figure out if this comment by Mullins is true:

“They looked at everything I carried in, so when they let me through [with AirPower], in my mind, everything was fine,” Mullins said. “Everything was out in the open. Two investigators watched me give the horse the treatment then five minutes later they wanted to see it. If they saw the AirPower and dosing syringe on me the whole time, then why didn’t they stop me?

Was the Air Power "out in the open" or wasn't it? Was the syringe "out in the open" or wasn't it? Will the security people deny this?

--Dunbar

I don't know if the respective trainers ever suffered any penalties beyond their horses being scratched, but just in the last 2 years or so, Jack Van Berg and Ron McAnally faced similar situations to the Mullins one. Van Berg had his stakes filly, The Golden Noodle, scratched from a graded stakes at Del Mar because it was administered a flavored mouthwash in front of the security guard assigned to the horse. Also at Del Mar, McAnally's colt, Men's Magazine was scratched from the opening day Oceanside Stakes when its groom gave it an oral anti-ulcer medication with a security guard present.

I thought detention barns were there for keeping horses from getting ANYTHING before a race!????

Doesnt matter who does it or what it is , if its not water being used to rinse the horses mouth before the race it is illegal . Call it being stupid or cagey either way it doesnt excuse breaking the rules , I would think any trainer shipping to a racetrack to run would for their own protection find out what the rules are , if they dont shame on them.

True, but I wonder if this story would be a lot less inflammatory if Mullins had not administered the Air Power personally. As far as I know, neither Van Berg or McAnally were handed any suspensions and certainly there was not as much shouting for blood, if any.

What's a bit foolish on Mullins part, post-incident, is his statement that he uses Air Power "all the time" in California, which some people might take to mean he uses it on raceday. Of course, like you say, its just as illegal (on raceday) in CA as it is in NY.

I have read all the articles and posts here so far on Mullins. Unfortunately I sense NYRA can't take a big lead on banning or suspending Mullins without exposing themselves for not being vigilant in stopping this upon entrance to the detention barn.
Karen Murphy will now punch holes in this incident and ask how Air Power got past the entrance inspection for one. There seems to be some back and forth with dialogue between officials and Mullins that are a little confusing.
I'm not a fan of this guy at all. But I think, in the end he may walk. That was painful to write.

I understand what you are saying and I fear that he may walk too, but the reality is that the rules seem to be clear that this substance and a syringe are clearly banned from the detention barn. A shoplifting is no less a crime because the store failed to post a guard at the entrence or within the store to be vigilant to those who are shoplifting. Unless NYRA was somehow complicit in having security see and approve of the administration of the substance and then someone realized that the horse could not be allowed to race on it, it is hard to understand how he didn't break some clear rules that require a punishment. Anything less vitiates the purpose of a detention barn.

I should say that my posts are based on the facts made public and there certainly can be things unknown that favor Mullins. That being said, there seems to be at the very least a clear violation of the detention barn rules of possession of items the rules clearly prohibit in that area which certainly warrants punishment if the detention barn is to be taken seriously.

Shoplifting is a crime. The NYRA D barn is a NYRA institute and not a NYS Racing law or racing rule. However, if NYRA does "suspend" Mullins how does that play out with other states. Example: If a jock is suspended other racing states don't allow that jock to ride.

he'll get suspended, appeal and serve his time after BC, like always.

I was making an analogy. My point was that a rule doesn't become less of a rule because security is lax. In this case I believe it should be an infraction solely for bringing the items into the detention barn which it appears to be. Anything less eliminates the purpose of having one in the first place IMO.

Of course. And all of this is assuming that all that was in the "Air Power" bottle was in fact Air power, which by all accounts is a joke. It's a complete friggin abomination. The douche needs to lose his license.

there is reciprocity between the racing jurisdictions. if mullins gets suspended, he's pretty much suspended nationwide. he needs a nice, loooooong vacation.

Has anybody read paulickreport.com's coverage of this? John Scheinmann (RIP, Washington Post horse racing coverage) wrote a pretty interesting article on Mullins back in 2005 with quotes from the CHRB.