Allard Horseracing Appeal Turned Down in Ontario
Rene Allard filed an appeal to a ruling made by the Ontario Racing Commission some time back, and this week the Ontario Racing Commission denied his appeal, upholding its original position.
The horseman appealed against a decision taken as a result of a blood test taken on November 13th, 2012, in which he was given both a fine and a suspension after a horse that he had trained was tested positive for drugs.
Horseracing Appeal for Drug Testing Decision
Millions are spent on horseracing in Canada every year, including horseracing betting. For this reason, and for the integrity of the sport, the Ontario Racing Commission takes seriously any drug related allegations and will look into each individual situation both before and after an appeal.
After the original deliberation by the Ontario Racing Commission regarding Rene Allard's horseracing appeal, he was given a full suspension for seven days, and also a fine that was imposed on him for $500.
The reason for this was that Veal Marsala, a horse that had been trained by Rene Allard, was tested for drugs and came back with a Class V positive drug test for the drug known as furosemide. The drug test was conducted on Veal Marsala after he won the race at Georgian Downs on November 13th, 2012.
Allard Appealed the ORC Decision
Allard cited four points with his appeal. One, he claimed that the process used to test for the specific drug is an unreliable one. Two, he claimed that Veal Marsala was an outlier. Three, he said he had exercised due diligence according to the responsibility rule for trainers. And four, he said that the penalty imposed was too severe.
Those who place horseracing wagers need to know that the horses are running under their own power, and are not performing better because of various drugs in their systems. The thrill and excitement of horseracing will be diminished if horses are allowed to race with performance enhancing drugs.
Seeing as this can greatly affect the outcome of races, punters may find that horses that are far away from being favourites could end up winning races, which can have a great impact on the betting choices that they make.
While some may say that the Ontario Racing Commission may deal somewhat strictly with these cases, it is important to punters that horses are racing according to their real abilities.
