Ross Nicholson

The appellant appealed a trial judgment dismissing its claim for breach of contract.

The appellant argued that a preliminary contract was formed when it submitted a proposal, or alternatively, that an oral contract was formed during a phone call.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no palpable and overriding error in the trial judge's factual conclusions that a purchase order was required to form a contract and that the phone call did not constitute offer and acceptance.

The appellant, a standardbred driver, appealed a six-month suspension and $5,000 fine for cutting a horse with his whip during a race.

The Ontario Racing Commission found that the appellant used his whip in a brutal and inhumane manner, causing a fresh, painful cut to the horse's testicles.

Given the appellant's extensive history of whipping violations, the Commission upheld the finding of misconduct but stayed four months of the suspension, resulting in a two-month active suspension, a $5,000 fine, a two-year probationary period, and a requirement to drive with both hands in the hand holders for six months.

The applicants, standardbred horse owners, appealed a decision by Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) to indefinitely deny their horses entry into races at WEG facilities.

The suspension followed a positive test for EPO in another horse trained by the same trainer, William Elliott.

The Ontario Racing Commission determined it had jurisdiction to hear the appeal and found that WEG's unilateral rejection of the entries lacked procedural fairness and was based on suspicion rather than evidence of wrongdoing by the applicants.

The Commission ordered that WEG is prohibited from rejecting the applicants' eligible horse entries on a permanent basis.