I believe it was Ron Southern and it was a result of the second positive drug test. Lamaze eventually was allowed to show at Spruce. I tried to find a news story but all the articles are about Ron’s passing in 2016.
Someone else must remember this!?
Here you go……Ron Southern was very angry
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/lamaze-jeered-at-spruce-meadows-1.276325
There’s no videos because Spruce made him go in the morning, back when the live wasn’t being broadcast or recorded as they didn’t want people to watch him! 
8 Likes
Thank you!!
I was thinking beyond just jumpers.
How about jockeys at the highest levels? They are incredible athletes and riders. MANY come from profoundly underprivileged backgrounds.
8 Likes
Had forgotten about that completely. In the ranks of “marrying money” well, there’s a pretty small list with more.
It’s a challenge to keep up with all the horse people going through the revolving door at divorce court. But I do remember that one.
1 Like
You can be jailed for contempt but it’s not that common, at least not here, plus if they can’t find him to serve him they also can’t find him to jail him.
[quote=“fordtraktor, post:124, topic:788773, full:true”]? Maybe it is just me, but I have doubts that our Olympic team should be funded by Jeffrey Epstein. They were his main clients.
[/quote]
The money went the opposite way. Wexner money went to Epstein.
9 Likes
Yep. We don’t necessarily know why that happened… still… but clearly Epstein fleeced Les Wexner over the course of many years.
1 Like
When I was a teenager I volunteered at the headquarters for the Canadian Olympic jumping team. After one summer there, I decided that I didn’t want to pursue competitive riding because I felt the culture had deviated too far from a pure passion for horses. I’m not saying it’s like that everywhere, but just that, even as a kid, I could tell that there was a lot going on in this world.
15 Likes
Kent Farrington came from a very poor situation I think
I am not sure his childhood could be characterized as “underprivileged,” but I think I read that Michael Barisone (dressage) had to exchange barn work for rides when he was starting out as a teen. That in and of itself doesn’t mean he had a tough background, but it was brought out in his trial that he was abused by his parents and sexually abused by a neighbor, so certainly tough in that regard.
5 Likes
He was their financial manager for decades. I should hope he made them some money. He lived in their house! And they have not cooperated with the feds, and continue not cooperating to this day.
They don’t seem like the victims of this tale.
3 Likes
He wasn’t a legitimate or real financial advisor to anyone. Seriously. Les Wexner was a brilliant businessman who made his own fortune. The reason Epstein came into his life in the mid to late 80’s is nebulous. There is no evidence I have seen in following news reports about all this that Epstein provided Wexner with meaningful and valuable financial advice, however. There were stories emerging by the mid 90’s that longtime loyal employees and friends of Wexner were concerned about the association and viewed Epstein as a grifter. At a point in the mid 90’s, Wexner signed over an incredibly valuable piece of real estate he owned outright - a Manhattan townhome (really a mansion) to Epstein for $0. This has never been fully explained.
The prevailing theory on all of this is that Epstein was blackmailing many wealthy people for years. Epstein’s money came about as part of these schemes… there were associations with multiple other massively wealthy people in addition to Wexner.
Long story short… Epstein clearly took money FROM Wexner. He didn’t help enrich the guy.
Here’s an article on the Manhattan real estate situation. It details the transfer and the history of the mansion. It’s pretty obvious something weird went on that forced Wexner to suddenly transfer it for $0 in the 90’s.
8 Likes
Oh I don’t think they are victims either. I just don’t think you characterizing Epstein as funding the Olympic team is accurate.
8 Likes
Curious what is likely to happen with Lamaze’s court cases now that his medical excuses for not showing up have been shown to be bogus.
Are his court appearances rescheduled, with no excuses accepted for him not being there?
Or are cases decided against him automatically because the court is now aware that he’s just been dodging?
It seems there is more than one case at issue, and at least one and maybe others have been going on for years.
I wonder if it will make any difference in how he lives his life. If he’s still going to horse shows and do all the things that he does there.
Having open cases against him doesn’t seem to have slowed him down much so far. The Chron article recounting all the shows that he was active at immediately before, during and after a scheduled court date was … eyebrow-raising, at the least. Does that continue?
If he has his own assets (no idea) and the court takes them away, wonder what he will do next?
Well, at least he will no longer be Chef D’Equipe for Canada while all this is going on.
Most Olympic equestrian sports rely upon support from mega wealthy donors who sponsor riders and provide quality horses. When you have national federations not only turning a completely blind eye to someone who is financially abusing multiple wealthy patrons of the sport… but actually also rewarding him with a premier position working for the national federation… you have to seriously question the intelligence of the people in charge of the national federation. Because it’s so stupid.
In other news, apparently EL has posted to his own Facebook page. Word is that it’s pretty nutty.
6 Likes
He is no longer Chef. Millar is now.
Although, one wonders whether EC knew about the pending lawsuits.
Then how do you explain the fact that other international and top riders went “in the morning” in the same classes? Did SM not want anyone to watch them? Or also to come and eat and watch other events and shop at Equifair? That had nothing to do with Lamaze’s issues - just basic class scheduling and class size. Lamaze also had horses in afternoon classes…
We did Challenge of the Breeds competitions and breed demos in the Meadows on the Green ring and the sand ring (I had the pleasure of announcing a lot of those events) - crowds were big in the mornings even in bad weather so I am not sure how SM was deliberately controlling who watched specific events or riders. That would be impossible.
Ron Southern once got booed at his own Spruce Meadows 
- he always insisted on playing God Save The Queen at the end of the final class in the International ring every day of the Masters tournament. People were tired and packing up their blankets and stuff and starting to head home - it could be a long walk back to the parking lot pastures. After one long, hot day Ron actually STOPPED the music and came on the PA after a hurried intro by Ian Allison (I think) and lectured people about not respecting the Queen… and the booing started slowly and then grew until it was a steady chorus that slowly leaked out with the crowd as it trickled out. I was standing by the hitching ring and my friend Pedro - the “ringmaster” of many costumes who still does international tournaments all over the world to this day - arched his eyebrow and shook his head… dismayed at the “scolding”.
I remember heading back towards Meadows on the Green as riders, grooms and horses were on the track heading to the International ring - and people were calling out to Lamaze with support and telling him he could get past this and he graciously thanked them… I think most of us hoped that he could.
Sadly, we were very wrong.
Southern trivia… Ron (and Marge too, I think) went to the same high school (Crescent Heights) as my mom and dad… and my mom actually dated him a few times! 
3 Likes
It is completely implausible that someone at EC didn’t know.
EC’s track record in this realm isn’t great. See: Jorge Bernhard as EC President, suing a HP eventing rider over a horse that they co-owned… Bernhard was trying to resile from their agreement. Bernhard was at the helm when hiring his friend Clayton Fredericks as coach/technical advisor at the same time. Word was that Bernhard wanted to place the horse with one of Clayton’s students.
EC President sues eventing widow
It could be years before the trial hits the courts. Bernhard has retained high-profile lawyer Tim Danson (who has represented Eric Lamaze in the past); McDonald is being represented by Peter Howard, a former equestrian and husband of US show jumper Leslie Burr-Howard.
2 Likes
