I don't know why we are talking about guaifenisin (because I don't think Air Power has it, unless I missed something) - yes, it's used in cough syrups, but in the horse it's also used IV to help induce anesthesia. It acts centrally, relaxes the laryngeal and pharyngeal muscles, and is a mild sedative and analgesic. That's why it's a Class 4 drug in all horse sports, and NYRA has a 96 hour withdrawal time on it.
Alot of track horses have coughs, allergy, bronchitis - instead of being out in fresh air on green grass with their heads down all day (the way horses were designed to live, eat and drain), they are in comparatively airless stalls filled with dry hay and straw (and molds, and particulate matter) eating with their heads up. Then they workout on dirt tracks and get dirt kicked into their lungs.
Coughs, mucus, bronchitis is pretty common on the race track (in all stalled horses), so good trainers are always looking for a way to get a horse like this more air in a race. There are legal ways, and illegal ways.
Most of the "won't test" OTC stuff doesn't do much (as they don't have any pharmacologic action - which is why they "don't test" <g>)
That said, Mullins is a licensed trainer, he had no business with a syringe trying to give a horse anything in a detention barn. His arrogance and blaming of the security guards for his troubles is laughable to the extreme.
Mullins proves the adage, "They aren't crooks because they are smart."
I'd love to hear Dr. Rick Arthur's comment on Mullins saying he gives Air Power before races in CA all the time?
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"Have the clean racing people run any ads explaining that giving a horse a Starbucks and a chocolate poppyseed muffin for breakfast would likely result in a ten year suspension for the trainer?" - Dr. Andrew Roberts
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