Mullins Sorry for Comments

Trainer Jeff Mullins apologized Sunday to fans, whom he had recently labeled “idiots” and “addicts” in a column by T.J. Simers in The Times.

“I said things I didn’t mean and shouldn’t have said,” Mullins said in an interview on Television Games Network, a horse-racing channel. “Believe me, I’d take them back if I could. I didn’t mean to offend anybody.”

Mullins added, however, that some of his remarks were taken out of context.

“What I said was aimed at one individual [Simers] and not the entire public,” Mullins said.

Mullins is one of four trainers who have been penalized at the current Santa Anita meet for running horses with excessive amounts of sodium bicarbonate in their systems. The mixture, known as a milkshake, is a performance-enhancing solution that has prompted Santa Anita to test every horse before every race. The 30-day detention-barn requirement for Mullins’ horses is over.

Mullins, second-leading trainer in wins at Santa Anita, went into a slump after his horses started getting sequestered the day before they raced.

“Some horses worry, and a change of surroundings can affect them,” Mullins said. “I would let them stay [in detention] the rest of my life if it would help me earn the public’s trust.”

Mullins said he does not milkshake horses on race day. Trainer Laura de Seroux said last week that Mullins should be banned from the track.

“I don’t know Laura, so I don’t know where she’s coming from,” Mullins said. “When you win, you’re always going to have people who don’t care for you.”