“I think it is a sabotage,” Funtime Bayama’s former caretaker testifies at Richard Moreau appeal hearing

by Melissa Keith

The Ontario Horse Racing Appeal Panel (HRAP) heard further statements in the ongoing appeal hearing of suspended trainer Richard Moreau on Thursday (Aug. 6). Two years have passed since the scratch of his last four horses entered at Woodbine Mohawk Park on July 23, 2024.

Counsel for the Appellant Jean-Marc MacKenzie asked HRAP chair Stanley Sadinsky to remind counsel for Yves and Sylvain Filion, as well as other witnesses, to abide by an exclusion order.

“We did make an order right at the outset of this hearing excluding witnesses, and that order applies to any witness who has given evidence ought not to discuss their evidence with anybody else who has not yet given evidence,” Sadinsky said. “Again, I have to rely on counsel to ensure that their witnesses comply with that particular direction.”

First witness Bradley Capes introduced himself as a horse racing inspector since 2016, when the Ontario Racing Commission (ORC) amalgamated with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). He told Robert MacKenzie, Counsel for the Appellant, that on June 21, 2024, he was instructed by the AGCO to perform out-of-competition testing on horses trained by Moreau and inspect his farm.

“So, myself and [AGCO] inspector [Brian] Sharp and [AGCO veterinarian] Dr. [Pam] Chesterfield attended the property,” said Capes, adding that they tested “around 22 horses,” Funtime Bayama among them.

Capes said that he, Sharp, and Detective Sergeant Matt Noble of the Ontario Provincial Police interviewed people connected with Funtime Bayama, who had been found to have had the prohibited drug DPO (darbepoetin alfa) in his system on June 10, 2024. The gelding finished third in the June 15 North America Cup final at Mohawk, but was disqualified and placed last on June 24, 2024.

Capes stated that he had interviewed Moreau and driver Sylvian Filion at the time, as well as Andrew Harris, Funtime Bayama’s current trainer, but was unable to reach Yves or Justin Filion, Sylvain’s father and brother. Funtime Bayama was owned by Yves Filion’s Bayama Farms of Saint-André-d’Argenteuil, QC, until June 20, 2024.

“Justin [Filion] never made contact with us whatsoever and was subsequently suspended because of non-compliance by the racing officials,” Capes said. “Yves Filion had medical issues which he was going through, so we had to wait until his legal representative contacted us to let us know when his availability was, but that never came to fruition.”

He noted that Yves’ racing license was canceled in Nov. 6, 2024; Justin was suspended in August 2024 for failing to respond to AGCO racing officials’ repeated attempts to make contact.

Robert MacKenzie asked Capes about other EPO (erythropoietin) and DPO cases he had investigated.

“Trainer Mike Brealey, he was one of the first ones with EPO at the AGCO, and I believe he got 10 years and $40,000 was the penalty,” Capes said. “Then Ron Adams was another trainer that was associated [with] EPO, and he was [penalized with] 15 years out of the business and [fined] $60,000. The last one was Jacques Primeau… I don’t know the number of years, but I believe [the fine] was close to $90,000.”

Robert MacKenzie asked the AGCO inspector about testing protocols and whether his visits to Moreau’s stable had been problematic.

“[Moreau] always gets back to you when you try to contact him, or if you’re looking for a specific horse and it may have gone out, he’ll tell you exactly where it went to,” Capes said. “We’ve even tested needle tips and stuff that were [on the farm] and nothing nefarious [came] back.”

Capes recalled that when he had been at Moreau’s farm to conduct out-of-competition testing on June 24, 2024, “we asked if Funtime Bayama was there, because I had heard that the horse was claimed or bought and it was shipping out. It was just by luck that Funtime Bayama was there before it shipped out in the morning.” There was “nothing unusual” detected in the 22 horses tested that day.

Robert MacKenzie asked about the location of Funtime Bayama’s stall.

“Even though there is camera coverage for the whole barn, it’s not the best visibility,” Capes said. “There was nothing that was brought up or found in evidence [about] why the horse would be in there.”

The inspector testified that Andrew Harris was the first person he interviewed about Funtime Bayama.

“[Harris] was up at the North America Cup that year, watched the horse [Funtime Bayama], wanted it, so he bought it,” Capes said. “Talking with Andrew, he was pretty good with us. He was pretty angry in regards to the outcome… Mr. Harris just said at the time that he didn’t have a relationship with Richard, and he didn’t even talk to Richard once about the horse itself, which is odd to me… Most of the conversation went through Sylvain Filion.”

Funtime Bayama left Moreau’s farm on June 24, 2024.

“[Harris] raced it a couple of times down in New Jersey, and the horse performed pretty poorly,” Capes said. “When he found out about the DPO… he said he was pretty angry in regards to what had happened. The only other thing that kind of stuck out in that conversation with him was [that] if he had heard… any inklings… prior to the North America Cup, he wouldn’t have even bothered looking at the horse, knowing that it was being injected with DPO.”

Capes said that when he interviewed Sylvain Filion on Aug. 7, 2024, the driver did not give much detail because “he had a very quiet demeanor” and seemed “shocked in regards to the DPO positive.” Robert MacKenzie questioned Capes about horse ownership transfers from Bayama Farms to Les Ecuries S. Filion Inc. of Milton, ON in 2024. Capes said the timeframe “raised some red flags” with him.

Funtime Bayama’s caretaker Steve Labonte appeared as a witness on Moreau’s behalf, telling the panel that he had worked for the trainer intermittently between 2010-24. He testified that the farm was an excellent place to work, with strong security measures in place.

“Richard was really strict [about medications],” Labonte said. “It was not allowed to have a medication that had a cut-off time… He told us [grooms], ‘Don’t ask the vet; I don’t want anything with a cut-off time.’” Labonte added that medications with elimination times were locked in Moreau’s office and administered solely under the trainer’s watch.

Jean-Marc MacKenzie asked Labonte about the Filion family’s influence on Funtime Bayama’s care.

“On a daily basis, Sylvain was giving me the orders for this horse,” he replied. “Yves dropped the horse off when [Funtime Bayama] first came from his farm in Quebec… He [chose] the stall that he wanted to… I thought it was weird, because he wanted that stall for some reason, I don’t know why.”

Labonte testified that the Filions called to tell him what to do with Funtime Bayama.

“I texted Sylvain and I said, ‘Listen, I don’t need your dad, your brother, and you [phoning]… Pick one,’” Labonte said.

After that, Labonte said communication consisted of texting with Sylvain, who would regularly show up to work “hands-on” with Funtime Bayama at Moreau’s farm. He stated that he was asked by Sylvain to add Justin Filion’s name to the list of people allowed to look after Funtime Bayama in the Mohawk retention barn. Labonte said that he later told Justin, “We don’t need that many people around” the “nervous” gelding in the Mohawk paddock.

“What was the order of giving direction over that horse?” asked Jean-Marc MacKenzie.

“It was all coming from Yves, because every day, after Sylvain jogged… or trained the horse, he was going outside and calling,” Labonte said. “I’m pretty sure he was calling dad. Every time. Every single time. After the vet worked on the horse, [Sylvain would] take his phone, go outside, talk.”

When Funtime Bayama was sold, Labonte said he was “caught off guard a little bit,” because he had already been sent the gelding’s stakes schedule, which included the 2024 Meadowlands Pace and Breeders Crown.

“As soon as the horse left [Moreau’s farm], they stopped coming,” he said.

The limited number of people with the passcode to the farm gate convinced Funtime Bayama’s then-caretaker that the pacer’s DPO positive could only be attributed to the Filions.

“I think it is a sabotage,” said Labonte. “And if it’s one, it’s internal… It is a sabotage, but done by them.”

A private investigator who looked into the circumstances leading up to the horse’s 2024 DPO positive took to the stand on Aug. 6. His testimony will appear in an upcoming column, ahead of the next scheduled date for the hearing on Aug. 31.

Funtime Bayama recently took a new lifetime mark of 1:48.4 in the July 27 Red Mile open handicap, his third seasonal victory for trainer Harris and owners Punisher 11 Stable LLC of Freehold, NJ.