Ontario ID mix-up discovered

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - A gelding who raced six times in Ontario last year as Northern Olympian was in fact a horse who now is known as Zubat.

Zubat and Northern Olympian, both bay geldings with similar markings, were bred in Ontario by The Bell Farm and somehow became mixed up before being offered at auction here.

The horse who would erroneously be known as Northern Olympian went through the open yearling sale in 1999, where he was bought back for $8,000, and later became the property of owners Teri Vella and Michael Cooke.

The other Bell Farm gelding went through the select sale, for $15,000.

Zubat, racing as Northern Olympian, finished no better than third but picked up checks in two starts here and three at Fort Erie, earning a total of $3,806.

The stewards at Woodbine have ruled the earnings must be returned, as the horse has been disqualified from all six of his races.

The Jockey Club, which confirmed the case of mistaken identities through blood-typing, found no fault with the technician who tattooed Northern Olympian nor with the horse identifiers at Woodbine and Fort Erie who permitted the horse to race.

The real Northern Olympian, who has never raced, now is properly registered under the appropriate name of I.D. Please.