Richard Moreau appeal hearing continues with testimony from Justin Filion

by Melissa Keith

Previous coverage of this case:

Richard Moreau appeal hearing on the verge of a decision in Ontario

Richard Moreau appeal hearing to continue

Second phase of Richard Moreau appeal hearing begins

Testimony continues in Richard Moreau hearing

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

On Aug. 6, Quebec-based private investigator Joseph Nino was interviewed as a witness for Richard Moreau in the suspended trainer’s Ontario Horse Racing Appeal Panel (HRAP) appeal hearing.

“It was Mr. Richard Moreau who gave me the mandate to investigate the case of doping of Funtime [Bayama] in June 2024,” testified the owner of Agence d’investigation l’Exécutif, who was hired by the trainer in Oct. 2024 to look into circumstances surrounding the horse’s positive out-of-competition test for DPO (darbepoetin alfa).

“The investigation, it was necessarily beginning with the family Filion,” he said. “They owned the horse Funtime [Bayama].”

Nino stated that he and another private investigator interviewed suspended driver Sylvain Filion at a Tim Hortons coffee shop in Lachute, QC, and that he also conducted interviews with veterinarian Dr. Pierre Tardif; horse owner Sylvain Côté; former Moreau employees Steve Labonté and Justin Turcotte; and Dany Mainguy, the former brother-in-law of Sylvain and Justin Filion. Nino said that Sylvain Filion was “in contradiction” about basic facts, like whether he knew Dr. Tardif. The investigator said that Sylvain confirmed that his father, Yves Filion, was “the person who [made] all the decisions” about the horse, whether Yves had “Alzheimer’s or not, good health or not.”

Nino testified that Sylvain Filion said Yves had received two offers for Funtime Bayama in 2024.

“They sold the horse… and he [Sylvain] confirmed that the horse was suspended in Canada, but he can race in the United States,” said the investigator. “[Sylvain] confirmed that it was his father’s decision, not his [to sell].”

The paper trail for the DPO covertly administered to Funtime Bayama followed a convoluted path.

In his testimony, Nino told the panel that Dr. Pierre Tardif said he got a call from Justin Filion around “February or March 2024, to ask him about information about [unspecified] medication.”

Counsel for the Appellant Robert MacKenzie asked Nino, “Were you, in your view, able to determine directly the source of the DPO for Funtime Bayama, the horse?”

Nino replied, “There’s no conclusive evidence of who administered DPO to Funtime Bayama, you know, but [there is] evidence that Yves Filion, Bayama Farms, [allegedly] has possessed and used DPO in the past… The investigation is not finished yet… Evidence that the primary equine veterinarian of Yves Filion and Bayama Farms, [Dr.] Pierre Tardif, has [allegedly] prescribed DPO to owners of racehorses in the past, you know, we can see that.”

He noted that some of his interviewees were “reluctant to cooperate” because of “fearfulness of Yves Filion or the family Filion.”

HRAP member Nicolle Pace asked whether the Quebec-based investigator had interviewed Moreau.

“I’ve asked him many questions, in different occasions,” Nino said. “Mr. Moreau didn’t even ask me about Filions or other people. What Mr. Moreau asked me to get [was] the information [on] who can do that and who did that [administered DPO]… Which person that we have, it doesn’t matter if it’s Filion family or not.”

When the hearing resumed on Aug. 31, witness Justin Filion appeared under summons, with assistance from court interpreter Nathalie Feldberg.

“In the summer of 2024, you were contacted by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario regarding an investigation into Funtime Bayama, and the investigators indicated, as far as we know, you did not cooperate or respond to their correspondence,” said Counsel for the Appellant Robert MacKenzie. “Can you tell us why, please?”

Initially answering in English, Justin replied, “My health is not good,” before switching back to French to clarify that he had been unable to respond to the AGCO at the time due to his addiction problems.

“You’re saying you previously stopped working with the horses when you felt your dependency was bad?” asked MacKenzie.

Justin said that he had done so and had sought help over the past 25 years from fraternités (support groups). He testified that when under the influence, he didn’t feel he had control over his decisions or actions, but denied that he was impaired when working with horses or at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Justin stated that Bayama Farms, located in Saint-André-D’Argenteuil, QC, was owned and operated by his father Yves. He testified that he worked there “on and off” since age 15, looking after horses and doing physical labor, but not specifically training or making veterinary decisions. Justin said that he had not worked there since relapsing into addiction in July 2024.

“Did [Yves] have a special approach or program for medication for his horses?” asked MacKenzie.

“I can’t answer for my father,” replied Justin, in French.

“Did you see it, though, when you were the trainer for Yves Filion horses, that he asked or told you which medications to use?” asked MacKenzie.

“No, he would be the one who decided everything,” Justin answered via interpreter. He denied being asked to procure medications for use on his father’s horses racing in Ontario. He said that because of relapsing, he could not remember whether his father conducted blood tests on any horses in 2023-24, or details of breaking and training Funtime Bayama with his uncle Rheo, under the supervision of Yves. Justin denied that the gelding was treated as “extra special.”

“With Funtime Bayama, before it started racing, who was the person training the horse?” asked MacKenzie.

“I don’t remember, I wasn’t,” Justin replied in English, adding that he could not speak for Sylvain.

MacKenzie presented a July 2, 2023 chart line from Funtime Bayama’s first Rideau Carleton Raceway qualifier, in which Yves Filion drove and Justin Filion was listed as trainer. When asked about why his name appeared, Justin responded that he couldn’t remember, but he could have been listed because he often helped his father. MacKenzie next presented a training agreement between Justin Filion and Richard Moreau Stables, dated Nov. 30, 2023, and asked whether the contract was for Funtime Bayama. Justin said it concerned La Barbe, a horse he, not Yves, had owned and trained.

Justin acknowledged visiting Funtime Bayama at Mohawk and Moreau’s farm in the weeks leading up to the 2024 North America Cup. He said through the interpreter that he was not working, but simply watching over Funtime Bayama because his father’s health was declining and he “tried to bring him good news, to comfort him.”

When questioned about the sale of Funtime Bayama, Justin responded in English, “At that time, it was not important for me, the money.”

MacKenzie asked him if he currently knew how much the gelding had sold for; Justin answered $800,000 American, but denied knowledge of who received the money, stating, “I don’t do the books and everything… I can’t answer for those people.”

MacKenzie asked, “After the positive test was announced, with Richard Moreau’s suspension, what happened to the sale?”

Justin said he didn’t remember; he had been dealing with personal health issues and the sale was his father’s business.

When MacKenzie asked if “[Justin] or anyone in his family, Bayama Farm owners, tried to find out the source of the positive test,” the suspended horseman replied that they had not discussed it because family relationships had deteriorated. He agreed that he knew of Dr. Pierre Tardif, but denied phoning any veterinarian in spring 2024 or knowing Quebec veterinarians who prescribed DPO.

“I didn’t have anything to do with that,” Justin said via interpreter. “I don’t know about that product.”

The Counsel for the Appellant directed attention to a screenshot of an Aug. 2024 post from Justin Filion’s Facebook account.

“I don’t remember that,” Justin said.

“Do you remember deleting it?” asked MacKenzie.

Justin replied that he did not remember because of his heavy drug use starting in July 2024.

“Do you have an idea of what it was that you were posting about when you wrote, ‘pourquoi il m’arrive rien?’” (In English, “why is nothing happening to me?”) asked MacKenzie.

Justin replied through the interpreter that he had been experiencing “toxic psychosis… so I don’t know what I wrote or what I did.”

Justin confirmed that he had been to Bayama Farms as recently as last weekend (Aug. 29-30), but to spend time with his parents, not horses.

“My father doesn’t have the health to have complete conversations,” he said tearfully, in French. He acknowledged that Sylvain Filion owned a house beside Yves Filion’s farm.

Counsel for the Registrar Alexandra Heine next questioned Justin about how frequently he visited Moreau’s Puslinch, ON farm.

“Over the years, many times,” he replied through his interpreter. “When, exactly, I don’t know, but I would always go accompanied by my family.”

Heine asked, “When you were on Mr. Moreau’s property, was he always supervising what you were doing with Funtime Bayama?”

Justin replied via the interpreter, “I never did anything with Funtime Bayama. I just visited it.”

He said that on the rare occasion when Moreau was absent, farm employees were around. He denied being constantly alongside Funtime Bayama at Mohawk, and said he could not remember whether Moreau was usually there when he was with the horse.

“Do you remember that you attended Moreau Stables on June 9th, 2024 with your brother, your sister [Julie], and your sister’s boyfriend?” asked Heine.

“I don’t remember, but it’s possible,” Justin replied via interpreter.

He agreed that he had attended the North America Cup on June 15, 2024, and had asked Moreau about feeding Funtime Bayama in the retention barn.

“He had told me, ‘No, don’t feed the horse; it’s going to be too much,’” he said, in French.

Heine said, “First off, congratulations on your current sobriety. Did you ever contact the [AGCO] investigators or inspectors to let them know about your health circumstances?”

Justin replied that he had not.

In cross-examination by Robert MacKenzie, Justin said through his translator that he had visited Moreau’s farm “always for my father,” rather than as an independent owner.

MacKenzie inquired about whether Justin or Sylvain “gave something to the horse that you thought was going to help its health” on June 9, 2024, the day after Funtime Bayama won his North America Cup elimination.

Justin replied in French that he would never do that to a horse in training.

HRAP Chair Stanley Sadinsky allowed Justin Filion’s request to complete his testimony rather than break for lunch. That afternoon, another key witness appeared under summons: Sylvain Filion.