ORC Rules On Henry Appeal

Published: June 10, 2009 03:31 pm EDT

The Ontario Racing Commission this afternoon released a ruling on an appeal by driver Trevor Henry

in regard to a whipping incident which took place December 9, 2008 at Western Fair Raceway.

The presiding ORC judges that evening handed Henry a four-month driving suspension and $1,000 fine for violation of ORC rule 22.22 (using the whip in an excessive manner).

The appeal was heard May 27, 2009 by an ORC panel which ruled that, 'Whipping a horse 22 to 24 times during the stretch run of a race is excessive in the extreme. Such action cannot and will not be condoned by this commission.'

The ORC subsequently denied the appeal.

Click here to view a copy of the ORC ruling, which also contains reasons for the decision.

(With files from the ORC)

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Comments

All anyone has to do is watch the race. The subsequent ruling boggles the mind!
H Nemovitz

As the owner of the horse she was in no way abused. If there was a question of abuse why at no time has an ORC judge talked to me or at least sent a representative to the test barn to verify these claims. Neither was done. Rebecca Giesel was 100% right with her response. Trevor was keeping this mares" mind on the job at hand being her first time on the front end.

Didn't Mr. henry follow the rules and guidelines to his probation? He has to keep his hands in the hanholds and did. I don't recall anything saying the amount of times he could hit the horse. Everyone wants the rule changed to hands in the holds and no one handed whipping as it is easier on the horse as a person can't wind up and hit them is how I beleive it went, is this not the case here?
My suggestion is that the ORC get their heads out of their butts and and leave the little ones alone for awhile and remove your.... from your wives purses and go after the ones who are truly bending the rules. A word also, a hundred fine is really going to teach them.
Greg Parke

as fas as i know trevor can hit one but never hurt them!he drove many times for me and never but never see my horses with a whip mark.but likie any other violation trevor even thou is a great driver is consider small compare to the big guns so yeah the ORC makes an example out of him!thanks MR DARLING for your rules changing that u want so much.but why they wait till the cup and other big stakes are over to change it????

Reading the ruling Mr. Henry admitted after viewing the replay that the whipping involved looked pretty bad. I am not sure why there is any dispute here unless Mr. Henry thinks that because he whipped a horse twelve times previously and was not suspended that somehow this comes across as they were out to get him.
The bottom line is it was abusive and under no circumstances should it be acceptable.
The betting public wants to make sure they are getting a fair shake in terms of a driver trying to do his best but not at the expense of abusing the animal.
Just out of curiosity, where did the horse finish and who owns the horse in question?

I remember this race, and was bothered by the suspension for a few reasons:
1)Henry never took his hands out of the handholds.
2)He won the race, holding off the favourite ( I believe driven by A. Carroll) for the final Quarter.
Ironically, Carroll whipped his horse, one handed, the entire stretch.
You should post a video of the race on this site, to see what I saw.
....who knows what the judges saw.

I watched that race and the replay and Trevor was keeping that horse's mind on what it was doing winning the race. That horse had never lead a race and they don't always know what to do when their out front like that. I think the ORC is trying to make an example with Trevor and in doing so, are hurting his career. I believe in fair and equal punishment for all it seems some are getting more than they deserve and others are left alone. I just want a fair shake at this business and I'm sure Trevor would like that too. Apply the rules to everyone not just your choosen ones. Watch the races most nights and you will see drivers whipping the same as Trevor did but nothing is said to them. I love my horses and do the best I can for them every day and I would have Trevor drive every one of them and never worry about the whipping. I think the ORC has gone to far with this one.

Funny how we were told Trevor "tapped" the horse too many times down the stretch and in this story it changes to "Excessive Whipping". Trevor must be pretty talented to have two hands in the hand holds and "excessively whip" a horse 22-24 times, and to think he got to drive in the next race.

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