Racing jurisdictions sorely need to unite and provide for uniform rules and consistent enforcement. I\'ve been the subject of poor steward decisions and inept commission decisions. while I share concerns about medication abuses and rules violations we can\'t have political contributors sitting on racing commissions without a clue or have stewards who\'s only qualifications is they road races making decisions that tarnish the sport and ruin many who want to abide by the rules.
I can see the stewards checking his bucket and lying in wait to snare Mullins while knowing full well that He certainly didn\'t intentionally violate the rules of racing. It\'s a pity this wasn\'t handled more judiciously
Trainer Jeff Mullins readily admits to administering a medication to his horse Gato Go Win last Saturday in Aqueduct\'s race-day security barn, but said he was unaware he was doing something wrong or anything that would have prompted the stewards to scratch the horse from the Grade 3 Bay Shore Stakes. The New York stewards are continuing their investigation into the matter to determine what, if any, penalties to hand Mullins.
The case will become more high-profile for the simple fact that Mullins is also the trainer of I Want Revenge, whose dazzling win in Saturday\'s Wood Memorial at Aqueduct could make him the favorite for the May 2 Kentucky Derby. Mullins\'s career - which includes citations by California racing officials for violations including excessive levels of sodium bicarbonate that required 24-hour surveillance of his horses on two occasions - will undergo scrutiny much like Richard Dutrow Jr. did last year as he campaigned Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown through the Triple Crown.
The stewards scratched Gato Go Win from the Bay Shore after security personnel observed Mullins giving the colt a dose of Air Power, an over-the-counter medication described as cough medicine and which also helps open nasal passages. The product, which Mullins says he uses regularly on his horses in Southern California, is administered with a metal oral dose syringe. New York rules prohibit giving any medication - other than Lasix - to a horse in the race-day security barn. The Lasix is administered by a NYRA vet. NYRA rules also prohibit the presence of dose syringes in the security barn.
Mullins indicated Monday that had he not been made aware that giving the medication to Gato Go Win was a violation, he likely would have given it to I Want Revenge as well.
\"In a way it was fortunate,\" Mullins said by phone Monday from Santa Catalina Island, where he was vacationing with his children. \"It could have been I Want Revenge; it could have been him just as easy as the other horse.\"
Mullins said he is not sure if I Want Revenge was given Air Power before his 8 1/2-length victory in last month\'s Gotham, also at Aqueduct. Mullins, who said a bottle of Air Power did go with the horse to the security barn that day, said that he was not at the security barn prior to that race, and that he had to hire two employees from trainer Tony Dutrow\'s staff to go in with the horse because his help could not get licensed.
\"Those guys probably know\" not to give it, Mullins said. \"They went through this before. I don\'t know if he [received it] or he didn\'t.\"
Joe Mahoney, a spokesman for the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, said investigators had no reason to suggest I Want Revenge be scratched from the Wood.
\"Our information suggests they would have seen any questionable activity involving I Want Revenge,\" Mahoney said. \"There\'s no indication of that. I Want Revenge was tested postrace, so if there\'s a problem we\'ll know about it.\"
Mullins said he didn\'t think there was a problem on Saturday because security personnel allowed him to bring the bottle into the barn when he brought the horses over Saturday morning. He said the bottle was clearly marked and was inside a five-gallon bucket.
\"I figured once they went through all my stuff and let it in, I was fine,\" Mullins said. \"In my mind it was an innocent mistake. Obviously, they overlooked it, and their oversight led to an honest mistake. There were two security guards in front of my horses all the time; they watched me do it.\"
Mullins said it wasn\'t until after he administered the Air Power to Gato Go Win that security guards began asking questions.
\"The guy asked to see the bottle, and said, \'What was that stuff you gave him?\' \" Mullins said. \"I thought he was being inquisitive. I said, \'It\'s just Air Power, it\'s like a cough drop.\' I gave it to him, he walked off, they grabbed the syringe, they come back, told me I was scratched. I said, \'Really, for what?\' They said you\'re not supposed to administer anything to a horse on race day other than Lasix. I said, \'How did they let me in here with it?\' \"
Mullins said when the stewards called him he asked them to not scratch the horse and penalize the owners, and to pull some blood and test the horse. Air Power, according to the manufacturer\'s website, contains honey, apple cider, vinegar, aloe vera, menthol, oil of eucalyptus, lemon juice, and ethyl alcohol.
Mahoney said the medication is not permitted to be administered to a horse on race day even before the horse comes to the security barn. He said the bottle of Air Power and the syringe were confiscated and will undergo a complete analysis at the state\'s equine drug lab at Cornell University.
Mahoney said that the board could not be specific about any potential penalties, and that it is aware of the sensitivity of the case given the proximity to the Kentucky Derby.
\"We want to be thorough; we\'ll move forward in due course,\" he said. \"We\'re aware of the racing calendar.\"
I Want Revenge is co-owned by David Lanzman and the IEAH Stables, headed by Michael Iavarone. Lanzman has controlling interest in the horse and calls the shots on who trains him. Iavarone, whose outfit came out with a stand last fall against using race-day medication other than Lasix, said the only clause in the contract that gives IEAH authority would be if I Want Revenge finished out of the money in three consecutive races.
\"I must be the luckiest guy and the unluckiest guy in the world,\" Iavarone said. \"To have the Derby favorite two years in a row and then running into a media storm two years in a row. It\'s impossible to make this stuff up.\"
There is no way at this point to know what was in the syringe or bottle, hopefully they will be tested and the results made public. But this had absolutely nothing to do with competence on the part of the stewards or racing commission. It was a DETENTION BARN, for crying out loud. It\'s probably against the rules to give a horse anything even in your own barn on race day, but the whole purpose of a detention barn is to try to make SURE no-one gives them anything. They are supposed to take a guy\'s word for what he gave a horse (ILLEGALLY) and let it run?
So you figure, what-- that Mullins didn\'t know what a detention barn was for? Even if you want to give him the best of it and say he wasn\'t intentionally cheating, it\'s on HIM to know the rules.
The only way that incompetence of racing officials or the fact that some indeed are patronage recipients comes into play here is if they do NOT whack him hard. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC. They have not been doing so.
Right on JB. If I owned the horse and the trainer doesn\'t know the rules in the jurisdiction (especially a small one like NY!) he\'s gone. Fired. He blew your chance. Knowing the idiosyncracies is part of his job. In ANY business there are varying state rules. I have them in my job!
These guys need a crash course in \"ignorance is no excuse...\" And I love how it\'s always \"the stupid horseplayers\" and he never takes responsibility for anything. Guy is a mega-dope, and he\'s an even bigger dope if there was nothing but AIR in that syringe! Then he\'s blowing it for nothing...
I think the question that i want to know is this. Why check the bucket if you are just going to let the trainer enter with a substance that\'s banned? Is there any reason the people who checked the bucket didn\'t tell Mullins that \'you can\'t use this, its against our rules\'?
Maybe its not their responsibility to inform Mullins of the rules, but once they let him thru and didn\'t say anything, Mullins shouldn\'t be blamed for just assuming that Air Power was ok.
You have to wonder what the bucket checkers were actually checking for? If they are just going to let you into the area, why bother even looking in the bucket?
dannyboy135 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Racing jurisdictions sorely need to unite and
> provide for uniform rules and consistent
> enforcement. I\'ve been the subject of poor
> steward decisions and inept commission decisions.
> while I share concerns about medication abuses and
> rules violations we can\'t have political
> contributors sitting on racing commissions without
> a clue or have stewards who\'s only qualifications
> is they road races making decisions that tarnish
> the sport and ruin many who want to abide by the
> rules.
>
Danny just think if there were European style racing rules with regard to medication the stewards would exercise much less influence. Sound like a good trade off?
> [Mullins] said he was unaware he was doing
> something wrong or anything that would have
> prompted the stewards to scratch the horse from
> the Grade 3 Bay Shore Stakes.
> Mullins indicated Monday that had he not been made
> aware that giving the medication to Gato Go Win
> was a violation, he likely would have given it to
> I Want Revenge as well.
\"unaware\" and \"not aware\" should equal \"unemployed\"
and \"not qualified\"
>
> \"I must be the luckiest guy and the unluckiest guy
> in the world,\" Iavarone said. \"To have the Derby
> favorite two years in a row and then running into
> a media storm two years in a row. It\'s impossible
> to make this stuff up.\"
Mr Iavarone, there is a saying that \"you make your own luck\" You have chosen to employ two of the most highly decorated soldiers in the war against the rules of racing. You got a little lucky last year when it turned out you had the fastest horse.
\"he had to hire two employees from trainer Tony Dutrow\'s staff to go in with the horse because his help could not get licensed.\"
Does anyone else think it\'s funny that the person Mullins goes to for help in NY is Tony Dutrow...who lives under the same cloud of suspicion as him. I mean come on...this game is becoming a bigger joke everyday.
I think I just wet my pants...
I think both Mullins and the security guards that allowed the product into the barn should be disciplined.
\"Air Power, according to the manufacturer\'s website, contains honey, apple cider, vinegar, aloe vera, menthol, oil of eucalyptus, lemon juice, and ethyl alcohol\".
When I read the ingredients, I recognized most them from my healthy living magazine. The product sounded like the kind of thing you would typically find a San Francisco vegan taking for health reasons. Maybe PETA should actually try to force trainers to use this product! LOL