The Thoroughbred Times reported that Jeff Mullins was caught with a syringe in the detention barn prior to the Bay Shore on Saturday in which his Gato Go Win was entered; that's why the horse was scratched.
“Our stewards are investigating an incident inside NYRA’s detention barn on Saturday afternoon....NYRA security personnel advised the stewards that Mr. Mullins was observed attempting to administer an over-the-counter product called Air Power to [Gato Go Win] in the security barn. He had also apparently taken a syringe into the security barn." [Thoroughbred Times]I suppose that Mullins will say that the substance is not illegal, and that he didn't know the rules since he rarely runs horses here. Any perhaps that is the truth of the matter. But seriously, how stupid can a person be? Walk into a detention barn on the 3rd or 4th biggest racing day of the NY racing season (with cops crawling all over the track....what was that all about?), with a syringe? Makes one think he might walk into airport security packing an AK-47!
Michael Iavarone really knows how to pick his Derby horse trainers, though in this case, he has no choice under the terms of the purchase agreement by which he bought into the bandwagon....unless, as reported in the TT piece (a fine job of reporting by Ed DeRosa), the colt finishes out of the money in multiple races. Last year of course, Dutrow admitted to using steroids and they ended up getting banned, so maybe now they'll ban syringes too. Anyway, until such time that I Want Revenge finishes off the board multiple times, breeder/co-owner David Lanzman gets to make the call on who trains and rides. Perhaps he took some comfort that Mullins at least had the good sense to not try and pull the same thing with I Want Revenge prior to the Wood.
Iavarone expressed concern that the story could "take away from the performance of I Want Revenge."
"I went through this last year, and it’s disturbing to me again that attention could be taken away from the horse.”But he's just concerned about his investment, and that it shouldn't be tainted so as to lose value. The horse doesn't care about the attention. In fact, he'd probably prefer to be left alone.
6 Comments:
My biggest regret this week is leaving Mullins off my punching bag list. His recent success will make him a target. Add in the detention barn shenanigans and we have a punching bag ready for big time action. That TJ Simmers comment about idiot bettors from 2006 is going to be dug up more than a Roman archeological site.
How do we know if Mullins hadn't "already taken care of" I Want Revenge, first? Who is to say that he hadn't? I would have ordered both horses to be scratched by the srewards. Clearly, it is an insult to people's intelligence, that they let I Want Revenge run. If he didn't run and finish 1st or 2nd in the Wood, he would not have had enough earnings to be at the Derby. If Mullins gets suspended, they will simply give the horse to the "classy trainer", Drug Dutrow. I can hardly wait to hear what the analysis of the Air Power shows after they send it to the lab. They may figure out what untyped new drug or substance Mullins has been using on his horses.
The active ingrediant in Air Power is Guaifenesin, mostly used to facilitate breathing.
Below is pasted from Wikipedia, seems it could be a performance enhancer in horses due to its bronchial cleansing combined with anesthetic qualities.
"Guaifenesin also has other known neurological effects, including an analgesic effect that is related to its action as a skeletal muscle relaxant, and possible inhibition of platelet aggregation.
Veterinary use:
Guaifenesin's neurological properties first became known in the late 1940s, and it is widely used in veterinary medicine to induce and maintain anesthesia in horses[11][12] and llamas.[13] In contrast to other propanediol drugs used for this purpose, guaifenesin has less hemolytic activity (i.e., less destruction of red blood cells) and is more soluble in water.
Hey, I'm an actual archaeologist (or at least used to be) - Roman stuff is actually left alone oftentimes these days since there just aren't funds to excavate it.
But it's not as though Mullins ever stopped milkshaking (or the rest) or even really bothered lying about it. I don't think that's the definition of success.
To floow-up with what Anonymous said about not having enough earnings to get into the Derby unless he finished 1st or 2nd in the Wood is a bunch of bull! I Want Revenge had more than enough earnings before leaving the starting gate in the Wood.
give me a freaking break, everyone is so obsessed with conspiracy theories, the frigging syringe was probably a plastic dose syringe containing the air power, which you can get at most tack shops
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