Harness racing commission lifts P.E.I.'s driver Marc Campbell's indefinite suspension

P.E.I. harness racing driver and trainer Marc Campbell has had his indefinite suspension lifted.

Campbell, the all-time leader in harness racing victories at the Charlottetown Driving Park and three-time winner of the Gold Cup and Saucer, was suspended by the Atlantic Harness Racing Commission in September after two of his horses produced four positive drug tests over the past year.

But after a hearing in Kensington last week, the commission ruled Campbell is not responsible for three of those infractions.

Those three drug tests all involved the same horse, who tested positive for too high a level of the drug Lasix. It's used to prevent bleeding, and is given to horses a few hours before a race — not by trainers, but by veterinarians or vet technicians hired by the commission.

At Campbell's hearing, Thomas Tobin, a professor of veterinary science at the University of Kentucky, testified that the only reasonable explanation for the three positive tests was that this horse simply metabolizes the drug at a slower rate than most.

"He had nothing to do with the actual administration either. So given that circumstance and the fact the horse popped up three times, and what we know about the distributions, that becomes the obvious solution," Tobin said.

The commission agreed.

Neither Campbell or anyone from the commission would do an interview with CBC News on Tuesday.

But Campbell's lawyer, Jean-Marc MacKenzie, said the commission was too quick to suspend him indefinitely after the four violations. He feels there should have been a hearing immediately to hear the facts, not a few weeks later.

MacKenzie said Campbell's suspension "has resulted in loss and damages, not only to him, but to his owners and horses.

"He's feeling like a guy that went through an unreasonable process to arrive at a simple solution. He's feeling like a guy that's been put through the mill."

Another of the horses Campbell trains tested positive for a different drug in August, and the commission said in its ruling that Campbell is responsible in that case. He has had to pay a $750 fine for the infraction, as well as serve a 34-day suspension that will end on Sunday.