IN THE MATTER OF THE RACING COMMISSION ACT 2000, S.O. 2000, c.20;

AND IN THE MATTER OF

OWNER/TRAINER SAMUEL QUARANTA

and OWNER/GROOM JOHN QUARANTA and HOTWALKER NICHOLAS LUCA

Owner/Trainer Samuel Quaranta, Owner/Groom John Quaranta and Hotwalker Nicholas Luca appealed Stewards’ Rulings TB 153/04, 154/04 and 155/04, in which:

(a) Samuel Quaranta was found to have violated Rule 15.11.1 of the Rules of Thoroughbred Racing, was suspended for 30 calendar days commencing at the beginning of the 2006 racing season, and fined the sum of $1,000.00;

(b) John Quaranta was found to have violated Rule 15.11.1 of the Rules of Thoroughbred Racing, and was fined the sum of $500.00; and

(c) Nicholas Luca was found to have violated Rule 15.11.1 of the Rules of Thoroughbred Racing, and was fined the sum of $500.00.

On April 4, 2005, the Panel consisting of Chair Tanaka and Commissioners Kelly and Gorman, convened to hear the appeal. Luisa Ritacca represented the Administration and Eugene Trasewick represented the Appellants.

Ruling COM TB 007 2005, in which Samuel Quaranta and John Quaranta were appellants, is released together with this Ruling.

On hearing the evidence of Kent Smith, Steward Richard Grubb, Samuel Quaranta, John Quaranta, Nicholas Luca and on reading the Exhibits and on hearing the submissions of counsel, the Panel dismissed the Appeals and upheld the findings and penalties imposed in Rulings TB 153/04, 154/04 and 155/04. Samuel Quaranta’s suspension in this ruling shall commence at the beginning of the 2006 Racing Season.

The Commission’s Reasons for Decision are attached to this Ruling.

DATED this 21^st day of June, 2005.

BY ORDER OF THE COMMISSION

John L. Blakney

Executive Director

REASONS FOR DECISION

This decision deals with appeals by Samuel Quaranta, John Quaranta and Nicholas Luca from the rulings of the Stewards 153/04, 154/04 and 155/04 dated September 4, 2004. The appellants were found to be in violation of Rule 15.11.1 of the Rules of Thoroughbred Racing for conduct on August 9 and in the days leading up to August 9, 2004. Samuel Quaranta was fined $1,000 and suspended for 30 calendar days, starting in the 2006 Racing season at Fort Erie. John Quaranta (“John”) was fined $500 and Nicholas Luca (“Nick”) was fined $500.00, John for uttering offensive and racial remarks and threatening another Ontario Racing Commission licensee and Nick for uttering offensive and racial remarks to another Ontario Racing Commission licensee. The reason for the suspension of Samuel Quaranta not starting until the 2006 season is that he was fully suspended for the 2005 season under ruling TB115/2004 for other Rule violations by the Stewards at Fort Erie.

In addressing the allegations in this case we have deliberately refrained from repeating word for word the offensive and hateful language that is set out in full in the transcript, except as is necessary to explain our reasoning in this matter.

The evidence of Kent Smith, a licensed groom is that in the summer of 2004 he was working mainly for Stanley Fishman, a trainer in Barn 9 at Fort Erie, and for Anthony Husbands, another trainer. In August 2004 he was “grooming and walking” three or four horses for Stanley Fishman and earlier in the year he had groomed for Mr. Husbands and fed his horses. Mr. Husbands also had horses in stalls in what is known as “the swimming pool” which is an area of stalls across the road from the Fort Erie racetrack property.

Samuel Quaranta also had horses in stalls in Barn 9. Samuel Quaranta’s stalls were at the other end of the barn from the stalls of the trainers who employed Mr. Smith. Samuel Quaranta had trained horses for the brother of Stanley Fishman, Dr. Donald Fishman, in the 2003 racing season.

John Quaranta is Samuel’s son and he is licensed as a groom. Nicholas Luca is Samuel Quaranta’s nephew and is licensed as a hot walker. Samuel Quaranta and John and Nick all had reasons to be in Barn 9 at the stalls assigned to Samuel Quaranta for the horses he was training.

In the course of his duties, Mr. Smith would walk the horses to cool them after training by leading them the full length of the barn and therefore past Samuel Quaranta’s stalls. Mr. Smith testified that when he walked his horses past the stalls of Samuel Quaranta, John, Nick, and Samuel Quaranta were constantly trying to intimidate him and scare the horses. He testified that this had been going on for the season but that in the beginning of August the language and the threats became more offensive. Mr. Smith testified that he walked each of the three horses he was responsible for half an hour each and therefore for an hour and a half each day he would have to walk past Samuel Quaranta, Nick and John and also John’s brother Rocky, and be subjected to the offensive language and threats that he recounted in his evidence.

One evening when he was at the swimming pool attending to the feeding of Anthony Husband’s horses there, he saw John and Rocky coming out of the swimming pool area too. This event is significant in that Mr. Smith’s view because the Quaranta’s were unaware that he had business at the swimming pool area. The next day Samuel Quaranta threatened him saying that “we” would wait at the swimming pool and beat him. Rocky and John were apparently present when Samuel Quaranta said this. Previous threats had included beating Mr. Smith once the racing season was over and the Stewards were no longer able to oversee the races and the licensees’ conduct. Later that day Samuel Quaranta walked by the stalls where Mr. Smith worked and said to him “We are going to wait over there all day until you come over.” Samuel Quaranta seemed to be “worked up”.

Mr. Smith deliberately delayed going to feed the horses at the swimming pool that night in order to avoid the Quarantas.

A couple of days later, on August 8 when Mr. Smith was walking the horses around Barn 9, Samuel Quaranta made comments intended to be derogatory which Mr. Smith recounted in full in his evidence. Rocky and John were there with Samuel Quaranta. The next time when Mr. Smith came around the barn walking his horse, Samuel Quaranta said to Nick “Nick, open up that Jew book and tell us what it says about Jews.” Mr. Smith’s recollection is that Nick then made extremely derogatory statements directed at Jewish people. Mr. Smith recalled that Nick had a little black book he was looking at. He felt that the whole incident had been staged by them. That evening, nothing happened at the swimming pool, nor the following morning. Mr. Smith testified that he figured that the deal about beating him up had been dropped.

When Mr. Smith next went to the swimming pool to feed the horses, he was followed by Samuel Quaranta, Rocky and John. There were other people working there as well.

Mr. Smith testified that he went to the first horse that he was to feed, one being trained by Anthony Husbands. Samuel Quaranta approached him with John and Rocky and asked Mr. Smith if he wanted to fight and used offensive language, standing some two feet away from him. He followed Mr. Smith around as he filled the water bucket for the horses continuing with abusive language. When Mr. Smith was standing, filling the bucket, Samuel Quaranta came up to him with his hands behind his back so Mr. Smith could not see them and pushed his stomach into him and said “You threatening me? You threatening me?” When Mr. Smith denied he was threatening him, Samuel Quaranta continued his threats to beat Mr. Smith and also “Donny and Stan”. Mr. Smith testified that Mr. Quaranta’s voice was raised and he was ranting. Mr. Smith understood that Samuel Quaranta was referring to Donald Fishman and Stanley Fishman, especially as Samuel Quaranta had previously said that he was going to run every Fishman out of the barn.

Samuel Quaranta apparently then went to speak to another licensee, Donald McRae, and then came back to where Mr. Smith was watering horses and said, “You’ve got horses over here.” Mr. Smith thought that was a threat and told him, “Don’t threaten these horses, they are nothing to do with Donny or Stan. They are Anthony Husbands’.” At this point, according to Mr. Smith, John interjected from his position about six or seven feet behind him with further threats and foul language, including threats to beat Mr. Smith and Donald and Stan Fishman. There was no physical contact between Mr. Smith and John.

Samuel Quaranta again made physical contact with Mr. Smith with his fists clenched. Mr. Smith decided that they were going to hit him, so he just dropped the bucket and caught up with another licensee who was leaving the barn area. Mr. Smith got into his truck and went to the security office at Fort Erie Race track and reported the incident. He also reported the incident to the Regional police and to the Stewards.

Mr. Smith agreed on cross-examination that on the track property John did not utter any threats. His evidence is clear, however, that John uttered threats at the swimming pool. He is also clear that he felt that he was in danger of being beaten by the three men. Mr. Smith testified that he left his employment with Stanley Fishman before the end of the racing season.

All three of the appellants gave evidence and denied making any threats or any inappropriate comments.

John recalled Mr. Smith telling him at the swimming pool when his father was there that the horses that Mr. Smith was looking after were Anthony Husbands’ horses and that Mr. Smith had told him not to threaten them, that they had nothing to do with Donny and Stan, just as had been testified to by Mr. Smith. John could not, however, explain why Mr. Smith made that statement. John also denied making any threatening statements to Mr. Smith at any time. Mr. Smith confirmed that, while John would be around when Samuel Quaranta was threatening him, John would not say anything.

Samuel Quaranta also denied making any threatening statements to Mr. Smith. He alleged that he never said anything to Mr. Smith, a position that is quite frankly not credible given that Mr. Smith had to walk his horses past Samuel Quaranta’s stalls and that Samuel Quaranta acknowledged that he saw Mr. Smith and knew he was there working.

Steward Grubb testified that Samuel Quaranta’s testimony before the Steward’s was that he never spoke to Mr. Smith whom he described as “trying all year to intimidate these children.” Given the ages and size of John and Nick, Samuel Quaranta’s reference to them as “children” does not support his credibility.

Samuel Quaranta testified that Mr. Smith tried to provoke John and Nick with his comments. He further testified that Mr. Smith had initiated the talk about a fight at the swimming pool and that he went over to the swimming pool with his two sons to Mr. Smith to see if he wanted to fight then. He denied saying anything to Mr. Smith in the mornings when Mr. Smith was walking his horses and denied that he would be standing around the stalls in the morning.

Nick provided a slightly more credible position, acknowledging that he spoke to Mr. Smith but only on friendly terms. He testified that in 2003 he had worked with Mr. Smith and that, when he had come back to the track in 2004, their relationship had been friendly.

Nick’s explanation of the incident of the reading from the book was that he was praying and reading from his Bible because his horse was sick. He brought the book with him to the hearing (which is small and red), and he said that he was reading aloud from the New Testament when Mr. Smith walked by. He quoted the passage that he said he read, in John 4:9, reading “Therefore the Samaritan woman said to him how is it that you being a Jew asked me for a drink, a Samaritan woman, as Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” He said that was the only passage that had reference to the word “Jew” that Mr. Smith could have overheard. He denied making any statement to Mr. Smith and he denied Samuel Quaranta’s being involved in this incident. He did not deny that Mr. Smith may have heard the word “Jew” but he attempted to give an innocent explanation of the reference.

Nick testified that he goes to church every Sunday and reads the New Testament daily. His evidence was that Mr. Smith accused him of having a homosexual relationship with his cousin Rocky. That accusation was not put to Mr. Smith in cross-examination and we discount it entirely.

Further Nick denied that Samuel Quaranta had asked him to read from the book that he was looking at, as had been put forward in Mr. Smith’s testimony.

Mr. Smith was cross-examined extensively on his allegations and his recollections. He was asked why he had not gone to the police earlier than the August 9 incident, given his evidence that Nick, for instance, was trying to spook the horses. He said that Nick, being “green”, did not understand that some of the things he was doing were likely to get himself hurt rather than Mr. Smith. He testified under cross-examination that Nick would throw things at the horses to spook them, that he threatened to steal Mr. Smith’s truck, and that he (Mr. Smith) ignored Nick. Mr. Smith apparently was able to deal with the jeers and comments and, if the appellants are to be believed, he could defend himself in the verbal sparring.

Samuel Quaranta in particular alleged that Mr. Smith used the same type of language as he accused Samuel Quaranta and John of using, and directed at them.

This panel heard this evidence as a separate case from the evidence that was led with respect to the other Stewards’ Ruling involving a dispute between Donald Fishman and Samuel Quaranta and John Quaranta that was before the Stewards in August 2004. The Administration had wanted to have the cases heard together. It was decided that they should be heard separately but by the same panel and indeed the timing of the cases necessitated that approach. The determinations by the panel have been made independently on the evidence provided in each hearing.

In both hearings there was evidence of a strained relationship between Donald Fishman and Samuel Quaranta at the relevant time of the incidents recounted by Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith, however, was not employed by Donald Fishman and there is no evidence that the horses he was looking after had anything to do with Donald Fishman. There is evidence from Mr. Smith that Samuel Quaranta made statements that could be interpreted as threats to Stanley Fishman only because of his being Donald Fishman’s brother, or because apparently he is Jewish.

Having observed the witnesses and reviewed the testimony, we accept the evidence of Mr. Smith that he was threatened by Samuel Quaranta and John Quaranta at the swimming pool and that they used offensive language to him; further we find that Samuel Quaranta and Nicholas Luca used offensive and threatening language to Mr. Smith at Barn 9. We do not accept Samuel Quaranta’s evidence as to the dealings with Mr. Smith or that Mr. Smith challenged Mr. Quaranta to a fight, given the presence of the three younger Quaranta relatives in the barn or the two at the swimming pool. We do accept that in the verbal sparring that occurred Mr. Smith was well able to hold his own but there is no benefit to Mr Smith in engaging in this sparring or in escalating this to a fight. He promptly reported the threats when he believed them to be serious to the appropriate authorities. The sequence of events as he recounted them and his reactions to the comments ring true to us as a normal response of someone in the backstretch of a race track. The versions of the events provided by Nicholas Luca, John Quaranta and Samuel Quaranta did not have the same logic or credibility. For instance, no other credible reason was given for Mr. Smith’s concern that he expressed as to harm to Anthony Husband’s horses except in the context of the ongoing threats as recounted by him. John Quaranta corroborated Mr. Smith’s evidence that he was concerned for the safety of the horses, that Mr. Smith expressed the concern and his recollection of the phrases used was very close to Mr. Smith’s recollection.

We therefore dismiss the appeals by all three appellants. Under separate reasons we have dealt with the appeal by John Quaranta and Samuel Quaranta with respect to the horse MAGEE and have imposed a suspension to December 31, 2005 on Samuel Quaranta. With respect to the suspension in this case, the conduct is serious enough that a separate suspension should be imposed and served, consisting of 30 calendar days commencing on the first day of thoroughbred racing in 2006 in Ontario, whether the opening day is earlier at Woodbine or at Fort Erie. The fines imposed under the Stewards’ Ruling of $1,000 on Samuel Quaranta and of $500 on each of Nicholas Luca and John Quaranta are found to be appropriate in the circumstances of this case.

DATED this 21^st day of June, 2005.

Lynda Tanaka

Chair