On Thursday, three Ontario-based trainers whose horses had tested positive for a Class 2 drug were found not at fault by the Ontario Racing Commission's appeal panel.
In a five-day span in mid-June, Rob Fellows, Brad Maxwell and Bjorn 'Bernie' Noren all had horses placed on the 90-day ineligible to race list for positive tests. Those trainers were cleared at hearings and were not assessed penalties by the ORC. The rulings state that no penalty was assessed "due to contamination of feed."
While the horses still appear on the 90-day ineligible list, Trot Insider has learned that hearings are set for Monday to rule on the eligibility of Adaymer Seelster, Lucky Journal, Northern Spark (Fellows), Creampuff Macdaddy (Maxwell) and Posey Tina (Noren).
Earlier this year, Richard Carroll and Mark Williams each owned racehorses that produced positive post-race tests for the Class 2 drug Ractopamine. After an investigation, the ORC determined that it was the feed distributor that the owners used that caused the positive tests.
After the ORC's determinations regarding the cause of the positive tests, Carroll and Williams then moved to have the 90-day Owner Responsibility suspension dropped.
The ORC denied Carroll and Williams' appeals, but varied the penalties. In its rulings, the ORC immediately stayed the remaining days under the Owner Responsibility suspension.