Ontario horse trainer suspended 10 years for buying performance-enhancing drugs

Kate Bueckert · CBC News

· Posted: May 26, 2025 11:18 AM EDT | Last Updated: 18 minutes ago

A Guelph, Ont.-area standardbred equine trainer has been suspended for 10 years and fined $40,000 aft and probe by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) revealed helium purchased performance-enhancing drugs.

Jeffrey Gillis was portion of an probe led by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, which saw 27 horse trainers, veterinarians, and others being charged "with offences relating to the systematic shipment and medication of amerciable show enhancing drugs (PEDs) to racehorses competing crossed aggregate jurisdictions."

When reached by telephone connected Monday, Gillis said helium had nary remark astatine this clip astir the suspension.

Gillis is a palmy trainer who has worked at Woodbine Racetrack successful Toronto and Woodbine Mohawk Park successful Campbellville, westbound of Toronto. His biography connected the Woodbine website lists a fig of wins and purse net from 2003 onwards.

Some of his achievements included in 2010 erstwhile helium saw $2,910,315 successful purse net and 2013, which marked the 5th consecutive play Gillis' unchangeable earned much than $1 million.

In 2020, helium won an O'Brien Award for training the award-winning trotting mare Hey Livvy. Standardbred Canada says the O'Brien Awards "celebrate the implicit champion successful harness racing implicit a fixed year. They are the highest honour the athletics bestows upon its heroes successful this country."

He besides trained Covered Bridge, which won the Gold Cup and Saucer — Atlantic Canada's astir prestigious harness race — twice, successful 2023 and 2024. The contention is held at Red Shores Racetrack successful Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Link to convicted U.S. veterinarian

The AGCO says records amusement Gillis purchased amerciable drugs, including "a substance held retired to beryllium an illegal, blood-boosting synthetic erythropoietin" from U.S.-based veterinarian Seth Fishman.

Fishman was sentenced to 11 years successful situation successful July 2022 for making "untestable" performance enhancing drugs, the United States Attorney's Office for the confederate territory of New York says connected its website. The attorney's bureau said successful a merchandise astatine the clip of his sentencing that Fishman had worked for astir 20 years successful "peddling dozens of unsafe and untested drugs that purported to person performance-enhancing effects connected racehorses."

"Fishman created and marketed these drugs arsenic "untestable" nether emblematic anti-doping cause screens and extolled the virtues of these amerciable drugs by describing his method of creating customized products for idiosyncratic customers successful bid to silo merchandise lines to trim the likelihood that detection of doping by trainer would undermine the remainder of Fishman's corrupt clientele," the bureau said.

The AGCO says Gillis purchased oregon attempted to acquisition drugs from Fishman aggregate times betwixt Oct. 14, 2018 and June 27, 2019.

As portion of the AGCO ruling, each horses owned successful full oregon successful portion by Gillis are not eligible to contention for 10 years. Any horses trained by Gillis are presently ineligible to race, nevertheless with the consent of the AGCO, they could beryllium released to different trainer successful bully lasting oregon sold.

Karin Schnarr, registrar and CEO of the AGCO, said successful a release this benignant of behaviour volition not beryllium tolerated successful Ontario's equine racing industry.

"This lawsuit underscores our unwavering committedness to protecting the integrity of the athletics and the payment of horses. Any effort to cheat the strategy and usage performance-enhancing drugs is simply a superior breach of spot and the AGCO volition clasp offenders accountable," Schnarr said.

The United States Trotting Association announced connected Saturday it had been notified of the sanctions against Gillis and volition enforce "reciprocal disciplinary action."

"This enactment reflects the [association's] unwavering committedness to a cleanable sport, equine welfare, and nationalist trust," a media merchandise said.

The Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission (APHRC) issued a akin connection by email, saying it besides has a 10-year suspension argumentation for the usage of performance-enhancing drugs.

"Given the reciprocal statement successful spot with the AGCO, the APHRC volition uphold and enforce the sanctions imposed connected Mr. Gillis," the committee said.

The committee added it takes the matters "extremely seriously" and noted each winning horses are taxable to routine, unannounced post-race testing. That included Covered Bridge astatine the the Gold Cup and Saucer and it was noted, "all samples collected from [Covered Bridge] tested antagonistic for banned oregon performance-enhancing substances."

"While this concern is disappointing, it reinforces the value of a beardown regulatory model and accordant enforcement," the committee said.