Horse Trainer Barred for Drug Violation
By JOE DRAPE
Published: October 29, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/sp...orse.html?_r=1
The New York Racing Association will announce Friday that the trainer Jeff Mullins will be barred from its racetracks for six months for giving one of his horses an unknown substance in the Aqueduct monitoring barn in April and repeatedly lying about it. The association has also made it clear that, in contrast to past practices among trainers, Mullins cannot transfer his horses to an employee, relative or business associate to get around the suspension in order to run in New York.
The punishment will extend only so far, however. Mullins, one of the most successful trainers in the country — and one of the most notorious for his many medication violations — is free to run in any other racing jurisdiction during the ban. That includes Santa Anita in California, where he intends to run a horse next week at the Breeders’ Cup, one of racing’s richest events.