October 22, 1959 CP article printed in the October 23, 1959 edition of the Globe and Mail

Supreme Court Will Study Owner's Appeal

Ottawa, Oct. 22 (CP) The Supreme Court of Canada today took under advisement an appeal on whether Ontario Racing Commission has the authority to force a horse-owner to change his thoroughbreds' names.

The appeal was taken to the Supreme Court by William Morrissey, Toronto breeder and horse-owner who claims the commission threatened him in May, 1957 to bar his thoroughbreds from Ontario tracks if he did not change his thoroughbreds' names.

Morrissey who obtained a writ of prohibition in the Ontario Supreme Court to prevent the commission from carrying out its threat, claims the commission has no authority to force a change in names.

The commission contends the names - Hot Ice, Stole The Ring, Red Nose Clown, Rabbit Mouth, Irenes Orphan and Into The Grape - were chosen to cast ridicule on Fred Orpen, retired owner of the old Long Branch track near Toronto, with whom Morrissey had a dispute in 1946.

Morrissey denied he intended the thoroughbreds' names to cast reflection on Orpen and is appealing a decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal which quashed the writ of prohibition and ruled the racing commission has the power to regulate thoroughbreds' names on its tracks.