Posts Tagged ‘jeff mullins’

In addition, Halpern said, Jeff Mullins, a member of the CTT’s board, also agreed to take a voluntary leave of absence 
"while current CHRB charges against him are litigated." Jack Carava and Clifford Sise were named as interim directors by the board. Jim Cassidy was named to replace Sadler as president of the organization.

During a phased-in ban on anabolic steroids, the CHRB began testing July 1 without treating positive tests as violations but informing trainers and owners if a horse tested positive. From Aug. 1-Sept. 3, positive tests were to be reported as violations but but penalized. Beginning Sept. 4, penalities are to be meted out on steroid positives. According to Thoroughbred Times, Sadler accounted for 18 of 38 positive tests after testing began.

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California racing fans who are curious why Del Mar’s leading trainer, John Sadler, reportedly has had 18 horses test positive for steroids since July 1 will have the opportunity to quiz him on the subject during a “Donut Days” promotion at the Southern California seaside racetrack Saturday morning from 8-10 a.m. The program, emceed by track announcer Trevor Denman, promises a “behind-the-scenes look into the world of Thoroughbred racing.” If medication issues come up with questions from the audience, however, it may not be the behind-the-scenes examination the track’s marketing department was looking to promote.

(UPDATE: Sadler scratched from Donuts Days)

Sadler, with 25 winners from 83 starters at the current meet for a 30% win percentage, will saddle Zappa in Sunday’s Pacific Classic. But he’s been in the news this week following a search of his Del Mar barn by California Horse Racing Board investigators and the disclosure by CHRB executive director Kirk Breed that Sadler’s horses have accounted for 18 of the 38 positive tests among all trainers for anabolics since July 1. Mike Mitchell, who is second behind Sadler in the Del Mar trainer standings, has had 10 horses test positive for anabolic steroids, according to Breed. Those figures were first reported by Thoroughbred Times. A total of 418 tests have been conducted.

Jeff Mullins, third in the trainer standings, is facing a possible suspension and fine after one of his horses exceeded the permitted level for TCO2 (bicarbonates, or milkshaking). The positive occurred while Mullins was on probation for an earlier violation. Doug O’Neill, who is fourth in the trainer standings, was forced to have his horses stabled in a detention barn at the outset of the Del Mar meeting because of an earlier medication charge by the CHRB.

Sadler currently is president of California Thoroughbred Trainers and Mullins is on the organization’s board of directors.

The CHRB’s ban on anabolic steroids was phased in after testing began July 1, with warning letters issued for positive tests during the month of July. Starting Aug. 1, a positive test was to be considered an official violation, with a notation on the trainer’s record and public notification, but no penalties were to be assessed until Sept. 4, when steroids are reclassified from Class 4 to Class 3 drugs. Beginning with races on Sept. 4, steroid positives could result in a fine, suspension and redistribution of the purse.

The CHRB’s chairman, Richard Shapiro, and executive director Breed have admitted with the benefit of hindsight that the phased-in approach was a mistake. On Thursday, the CHRB took an additional step of announcing that any horse administered anabolic steroids on or after Aug. 22 will be placed on the vet’s list for a minimum of 30 days.

A Thursday press release from the CHRB quoted an “obviously angry” Shapiro saying, “We mean business!” after the board’s medical director, Rick Arthur, reported  at a Medication Committee meeting that some trainers were still using steroids. The press release also quoted CHRB vice chairman John Harris saying: “We will have no sympathy for any owners or trainers who flaunt our rules.” The meeting occurred the day after the search of Sadler’s barn.

The “Donut Days” promotion takes place at the west end of the grandstand. Other scheduled guests are retired Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Delahoussaye and Jockeys’ Guild representative Darrell Haire. 

Donuts are being provided by Yum Yum Donuts.

Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report

Visit the Paulick Report for all the latest news throughout the racing world.

Red-hot California trainer John Sadler may also be hot under the collar after California Horse Racing Board investigators raided his barn Monday morning in an apparent search for prohibited medications. So hot, in fact, that Sadler told the Paulick Report he and his attorney are considering legal action against the regulatory agency.

Sadler’s rise to the top of the California training ranks wasn’t exactly meteoric. The one-time show-horse rider who turned 52 years old last month, took out his trainer’s license in 1979 and won his first stakes race that same year. He’s been a steady presence over the years, but Sadler has never been as hot as he has been in 2008. When CHRB investigators conducted their shakedown of his barn at Del Mar on Monday, as first reported in Daily Racing Form, Sadler was the meet’s leading trainer, winning at a 28% clip and having a 60% top-three percentage. Sadler’s 22 winners from 78 starters put him far ahead of second-place Jeff Mullins, who recently was charged with having a horse that exceeded the permitted TCO2 level (milkshaking).

Sadler said on Wednesday he and his attorney, Donald Calabria, are preparing a public statement regarding the raid. “It’s not anything,” he told the Paulick Report in response to a question about the investigation. “These are unusual circumstances. We don’t really understand it, and we are putting materials together.” The trainer then said “we are talking” about possible litigation.

Sadler also was leading trainer at Hollywood Park this summer, winning 30 of 144 racese for a 23% clip and 56% in the money percentage. Three of his meet-leading seven stakes winners came on the same afternoon June 28 when he won the Landaluce, A Gleam and American Handicap. Sadler was runner-up to Mike Mitchell in the winter-spring Santa Anita trainer standings.

Sadler has relied heavily on the California breeding program to populate his public stable and has won stakes races on a steady basis. He got his start as an assistant to the highly respected veterinarian Jack Robbins and also worked for trainers Tom Pratt, David Hofmans and Eddie Gregson. One of his biggest stars in his early years was the unbeaten California-bred filly Melair, who defeated Preakness winner Snow Chief in the 1986 Silver Screen Handicap at Hollywood Park, going a mile in 1:32 4/5.

His win percentage in recent years has hovered between 16-21%, and he’s ranked as high as 16^th nationally among trainer by money won, with $5,408,950 in 2007. Last year was by far his best season, topping the $4,129,131 earned in 2006 and almost doubling his 2003 and 2004 money figures.

Barring a huge slump, Sadler will easily have a career year in 2008. His 413 starters have won 83 times (20%) and earned $4,812,846.

Sadler has also served on industry boards, including California Thoroughbred Trainers and Thoroughbred Owners of California, and he was instrumental in establishing the Eddie Gregson Foundation.

A 2007 profile of Sadler in Bloodhorse magazine said the trainer applauded the tightening of medication rules in California. “We have the best testing in the country,” he was quoted as saying, “and now they’re doing this out-of-performance testing, which I think is fabulous. We’re leading the way in reforming medication.”

The Racing Form article which broke the news of the raid (although it had already been widely discussed in a Del Mar Thoroughbred Club online forum) said speculation centered on the possibility of a search for anabolic steroids, which are being phased out as permitted medications in California. Beginning Aug. 1, tests for steroids became “official,” but positives will not be subject to fines, suspensions or loss of purse money until after Sept. 4.
Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report

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