Ontario Racing Commission
RULING NUMBER COM TB 014/2015
COMMISSION HEARING TORONTO, ONTARIO – OCTOBER 7, 2015
NOTICE OF DECISION
IN THE MATTER OF THE RACING COMMISSION ACT, S.O. 2000, c.20;
AND IN THE MATTER OF THE APPEALS AND REQUEST FOR HEARING OF MARK CASSE, JOHN OXLEY AND PATRICK HUSBANDS
Mark Casse, John Oxley and Patrick Husbands (“Husbands”) appealed against Ruling Number TB 9369/2015 issued against Husbands wherein he was suspended for three racing days and his horse, FLASHAWAY, finished 1st and was placed 8th in the 5th Race at Woodbine Racetrack on August 8, 2015.
Date of Hearing: October 7, 2015
ORC Panel: Sandra Meyrick, Commissioner
Counsel for the Appellants: Dan McMahon
Agent for the Administration: Neil McCoag
Decision:
(i) The Panel ordered that Mr. Jerome Lermyte’s name be flagged in the system such that he must appear before the Stewards before he rides again in Ontario, to explain his absence today.
(ii) The appeal in relation to the interference is allowed.
(iii) The three-day racing suspension of Patrick Husbands is set aside and
(iv) FLASHAWAY will be placed back in 1st position.
A transcript with the Panel’s oral Reasons for Decision is attached to this Notice.
DATED at Toronto this day 22nd day of October 2015.
Jean Major
Executive Director
ONTARIO RACING COMMISSION
THOROUGHBRED HEARING
IN THE MATTER OF THE RACING COMMISSION ACT, 2000, S.O. C.20 AND THE RULES OF THOROUGHBRED RACING:
AND IN THE MATTER OF AN APPEAL AND REQUEST FOR HEARING OF MARK CASSE, JOHN OXLEY, PATRICK HUSBANDS:
Held Before:
Sandra Meyrick Commissioner
These are an excerpt of the proceedings in the above mentioned matter held before The Ontario Racing Commission, Re: MARK CASSE, JOHN OXLEY, PATRICK HUSBANDS, taken before Toronto Court Reporters, Suite 1410, 65 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, at 10 Carlson Court, Suite 400, Toronto, Ontario, on the 7th day of October, 2015.
Appearances:
Neil McCoag,
Agent for the Ontario Racing Commission Administration
Dan McMahon, for the licensees
Hearing continued ...
MADAME CHAIR: Thank you. Please be seated. To begin with I am going to order that Mr. Jerome Lermyte, his name, be flagged in the system such that he must appear before the stewards before he rides again in Ontario to explain his absence today. In so doing I think it is important we mark the letter from his counsel Ms. Mindy Coleman as Exhibit 3 so it forms part of the record. The appeal of ruling TB 9369/2015 in relation to the interference is allowed. The three day suspension of Patrick Husbands is set aside and FLASHAWAY will be placed back in 1st position. The onus is on the Administration to establish on a balance of probabilities with clear, cogent and compelling evidence that a violation of the rules has occurred. The race film adduced at the hearing together with the testimony of three participant riders in the race raises considerable doubt as to the culprit in this race. There is a convergence of horses or a bottleneck which occurs during the 5th race on August 8, 2015 however it is not clear that Husbands caused the bottleneck or in fact violated rule 11.09 or 11.07. I comment that the Administration has done its best to establish the culpability and this isn’t a criticism of the Administration’s work. Their witnesses unfortunately have not been reliable and the race footage does not establish a violation on Husbands’ part sufficient to find him in violation of the rules. So on this basis the appeal is allowed and I thank you very much for all your time this afternoon.
CERTIFIED CORRECT:_________________________________
RAYMOND P. MACDONALD, B.A., CVR
Commissioner of Oaths