Jeff Mullins, who has been in and out of trouble for medication violations in thoroughbred racing on the west coast but remained a major successful figure in the game, hit the wall in New York today.

The state’s racing and wagering board is barring him from its tracks for six months for using a syringe in the Aqueduct security barn last April.

New York Times racing writer Joe Drape quoted Neil Getnick of the law firm of Getnick & Getnick, which serves as the New York Racing Association’s independent integrity counsel, as saying, “You cannot surreptitiously bring contraband into our security barn and then lie about it.”

Chairman Steven Duncker put the NYRA ban in perspective, saying, “We can only wield the bat we have, which is our races and our stalls.”

In England, a sea-change in the British Horseracing Association, which denied the appeal of jockey Darren Williams’ three-month suspension under a 'fit and proper person' rule.

In Australia, a jock got three months for betting on his mounts and lying about it.

(Harness Tracks of America)