RULING NUMBER COM SB 016/2013
COMMISSION HEARING TORONTO, ONTARIO – FEBRUARY 13, 2013
NOTICE OF DECISION
IN THE MATTER OF THE RACING COMMISSION ACT, S.O. 2000, c.20;
AND IN THE MATTER OF THE STEPHANE LAPOINTE APPEAL
Stephane Lapointe appealed against Ruling Number SB 45345.
Date of Hearing: February 13, 2013
ORC Panel Members: Vice-Chair Anthony Williams
Commissioner John Macdonald
Commissioner Anne Walker
Representative for Appellant: Self-represented.
Counsel for the Administration: Jennifer Friedman
The Panel denied the appeal.
The Panel’s Reasons for Decision is attached to this Notice.
DATED at Toronto this 16^th^ day of May 2013.
______________________________
Steven Lehman
Executive Director
REASONS FOR DECISION
Background
- Stephane Lapointe (“Lapointe”) is licensed by the Ontario Racing Commission (“ORC”) as a Driver/Trainer/Owner, Licence # V09026.
Friday, July 20, 2012 –Opera Mystic
On Friday, July 20, 2012, Opera Mystic, tattoo # 6AT77, a horse trained by Lapointe and owned by Todd Begley (“Begley”), of Cambridge, Ontario, placed second in the second race, a one mile pace, at Grand River Raceway, Ontario.
The urine sample collected from the horse, following the race, resulted in a Certificate of Positive Analysis of an Official Sample on July 31, 2012, for the Class II drug O-Desmethylvenlafaxine (“O-D”), brand name Efflexor, (Ex 2, Book of Documents, tab 6, pg 10).
On August 1, 2012, Neil White, ORC, was assigned to investigate the positive test result for Opera Mystic.
Sunday, September 16, 2012 – Had Me From Hello
On Sunday, September 16, 2012, Had Me From Hello, tattoo # 3EP44, a horse trained by and owned by Lapointe and previously owned by Begley, placed second in the eighth race, a one mile pace, at Flamboro Downs Raceway, Ontario.
The urine sample collected from the horse, following the race, resulted in a Certificate of Positive Analysis of an Official Sample for the Class II drug, O-D, (Ex 2, Book of Documents, tab 15, pg 40).
On September 26, 2012, Desmond Waithe, ORC, was assigned to investigate the positive test result for Had Me From Hello.
Interim Suspension
- On September 26, 2012, the track judges suspended Lapointe until the investigations into the two positive tests were complete, (Standardbred Official Ruling SB 45333), pursuant to the Rules of Standardbred Racing (“SB”) 9.02.03, 9.08.01 (b) ii and 1.09 (Ex 2, Book of Documents, tab 18, pg 44).
The Hearing – Track Judges
- On November 14, 2012