Woodbine: Northern Dancer Turf of 2009 now official

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - It’s official.

Marsh Side, finally, is the winner of Woodbine’s 2009 Northern Dancer Turf.

The Ontario Racing Commission confirmed that the $450,000 winner’s share of the purse could be paid out to Marsh Side’s connections after an Ontario Court of Justice hearing denied an appeal by connectons of the second- and fourth-place finishers and the deadline for further appeal passed.

Marsh Side had finished first under jockey Javier Castellano in the Northern Dancer on Sept. 20, 2009, but was disqualified and placed fourth after the stewards ruled that he had interfered with third-place finisher Quijano and fourth-place Champs Elysees.

Robert Evans, the owner of Marsh Side, and Castellano, who was handed a three-day suspension, appealed the stewards’ ruling, and the racing commission upheld both appeals following a hearing on May 26, 2010 and reinstated Marsh Side as the winner.

Jonathan Sheppard, owner and trainer of runner-up Just As Well, and Juddmonte Farms, owner of Champs Elysees, took the matter into the Ontario court system for a judicial review of the racing commission’s decision, but their appeal was denied at a March 25 hearing. The deadline for further appeal now has passed.

Just As Well now will receive second money of $130,000 and Champs Elysees fourth money of $45,000.

Those purses will not be distributed, however, until court costs have been allocated and deducted.

Marsh Side currently is standing at stud in New York, while Just As Well is a stallion in South Africa.