Trainer Frederick Bourgault was arrested this week in New York State and charged with two felonies related to the death of the 11-year-old trotter.

by Melissa Keith

Finish Line (5, 1:53.2s; $342,050) took his mark at Woodbine Racetrack on March 6, 2017. The Yankee Glide—Calchips Finisher gelding would rise to the Mohawk and Woodbine preferred level that spring for former trainer Rene Allard.

On Oct. 13, 2023, Standardbred Canada (SC) canceled Allard’s membership for by-law violations. He had last trained horses to race in Ontario in Dec. 2016, but had remained active until March 2020 in New York and Pennsylvania. Allard was sentenced to 27 months in prison by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Nov. 15, 2022 for involvement in distributing adulterated and misbranded drugs used on racehorses.

On Oct. 16, 2023, another trainer’s SC membership was canceled. He, too, had trained Finish Line, in early 2023.

Frederick Bourgault had previously (on Feb. 1, 2020) had conditions imposed on his license by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), for abuse of a horse in the paddock of The Raceway at Western Fair. In 2021, Bourgault relocated to New York State, where he continued training and driving, primarily at Monticello Raceway. His fines and suspensions for one-handed whipping, whipping horses after the finish, kicking, and excessive or indiscriminate use of the whip accumulated.

On March 9, 2022, his driver’s license was downgraded from Provisional to Qualifying Fair, effective from March 10, 2022 through Sept. 5, 2022. The New York State Gaming Commission imposed conditions for his return: “It is further ordered that Mr. Bourgault provide proof of successful completion of an approved anger management course.”

On Dec. 20, 2022, Bourgault qualified Finish Line for owner/trainer Herman Swartzentruber at Monticello Raceway. On April 24, 2023 at Monticello, Finish Line went offstride early and ended up distanced, with Swartzentruber in the sulky. It would be the trotter’s final race.

On July 17, 2023 at Pine Bush Training Facility, in Crawford, NY, the 11-year-old gelding allegedly stepped on Bourgault’s foot. What happened next defies logic, but not words: Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler stated in a Jan. 30 release that Bourgault “struck the horse with a hard object causing a linear depressed skull fracture, which resulted in the horse having to be euthanized.”

Finish Line was buried at Pine Bush Training Facility, and later exhumed in response to an anonymous complaint to police. A necropsy was conducted by Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Lee Park, deputy executive director of the NYS Gaming Commission, said via email that “any horse that dies on the grounds of a New York State racetrack [is] automatically sent for necropsy. The Gaming Commission does not regulate private training centers or farms, and therefore does not track equine fatalities or incidents that take place at such facilities.”

Bourgault was arraigned in Orange County Court before County Court Judge Richard Guertin on Tuesday (Jan. 30). He was not eligible for bail to be set, due to changes to state bail reform legislation. The 26-year-old from Scott, QC was arrested that morning, after an investigation conducted by the New York State Gaming Commission, Orange County District Attorney, and New York State Police. He appeared in court that afternoon, charged with two felonies: Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree, and Interference with or Injury to Certain Domestic Animals. Bourgault’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday (Feb. 2). His passport was seized to prevent him from leaving the country.

The question of why animal rights group PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) became involved in the matter is less clear than the charges against Bourgault. A Jan. 30 release from the organization stated that “PETA was informed of the alleged beating [on Finish Line] by a whistleblower and immediately contacted the police.” The release thanked the New York State Police for their efforts to apprehend Bourgault, while disparaging the New York State Gaming Commission “for allowing this man to keep racing” and asking, “why New Yorkers are forced to support the harness racing industry with $100 million in subsidies every year.”

Meanwhile, a Jan. 30 release from the Orange County District Attorney thanked both the commission and police for their help: “The New York State Gaming Commission provided expert witnesses and assisted in coordinating the arrest of Bourgault by the New York State Police.” He could not comment on an unconfirmed report that the trainer had been arrested at Monticello Raceway after spending time in Canada.

Reciprocity among racing jurisdictions prevented Bourgault from continuing to train or drive horses in Ontario. A Dec. 11 query to the AGCO confirmed that licensees suspended by “another province or state recognized by the Commission, or Standardbred Canada or the USTA” is “prohibited from participating in any racing activity in Ontario.” The AGCO reciprocates SC suspensions, and individual racetracks make their own decisions about who can be on their private property. As the AGCO communications team email pointed out, sanctions from one racing jurisdiction do not automatically take effect elsewhere: “It is up to each province or state to decide whether or not they want to reciprocate AGCO suspensions.”

Bourgault was not banned from owning, training, or provisionally driving horses in New York State out of reciprocity with Ontario. But on Wednesday (Jan. 31), Park confirmed he was indeed banned, until at least March 7, 2025: “Mr. Bourgault is not able to participate in New York State horse racing.”