AUGUSTA – Just in case members of Maine’s harness racing community missed it the first time around, the Maine State Harness Racing Commission had a pointed reminder for them Thursday that rules violations will be punished.

Veteran horseman Owen Davies of Woodstock, New Brunswick, became the latest driver and trainer to be suspended from racing in Maine for an entire season Thursday at an MSHRC adjudicatory hearing in Augusta.

“First of all, when you take someone’s license and livelihood away, it’s a very, very serious thing,” said MSHRC chairman George McHale. “We don’t take it lightly, as you can see by the length of the hearing we had today. We give the person every opportunity to make sure the legal process is intact. However, the commission is taking very seriously this business of people violating their agreements and suspensions.”

Davies, 40, joins Scarborough’s James Apperti Jr., who was suspended more than a month ago for the 2006 season due to a positive test for a banned substance in a horse he trained and for subsequent violations of the conditions of a consent agreement for a 120-day suspension.

“In the cases we’ve had most recently, both were egregious. Both were not single violations. One involved over 60 and this one was 30,” said McHale, one of five commission members to vote unanimously to suspend Davies. “The thing that’s so frustrating is in both cases, the defendant readily admitted they did it and then tried to escape on technicalities.”

Davies’ initial suspension stemmed from him failing to take his horse to a mandatory drug test after a race at Skowhegan Raceway last summer.

“Their own protocol was to tag horses after a race that were called for testing and in Skowhegan, they called [tagged] the whole race, but didn’t have enough tags, and I never got tagged,” Davies explained.

MSHRC executive director Henry Jackson had a different take on things.

“That’s what he alleged, but he was told personally that his horse needed to report to the spit box. It was especially selected to be tested,” Jackson said. “There were a couple other people who testified at the time that they also told him that horse had to be tested.”

Jackson said Davies was initially fined $1,000 and given a one-year suspension from racing and training last August, but after an appeal, the punishment was reduced to a $500 fine and a 120-day suspension. Since that time, Davies has been observed violating terms of his suspension (no driving or training-related duties on Maine tracks) many times.

Thursday’s hearing, which lasted nearly three hours, involved testimony from several witnesses called by Maine Assistant Attorney General Jack Richards, who represents the MSHRC. They recorded repeated instances of Davies being on the grounds and being seen training and exercising horses at Scarborough Raceway at various times in September, October, and November.

Davies elected not to call any witnesses but did offer his own testimony.

“I didn’t think I had a 50-50 chance, but I still had to come and see what happened. I don’t think it could have been much worse for me,” said Davies, who operates his own racing business with younger brother Ivan. “It affects my whole family, my owners, everybody. He’ll still do his thing and I’ll do…. Something else, I guess. I have no idea right now.”

Davies was able to get several reported instances of his suspension violations lifted as he was able to show he was in Canada on those dates and his brother was probably confused for him. He did not, however, deny testimony that he was not only seen on several other occasions but also addressed and notified that he was violating his suspension.

“Some people seem to think they can just simply do it and we won’t react, but the message is out we will react,” said McHale. “We’re not after anybody, but when someone violates the rules, we’re just not going to tolerate it.”

Now Davies must decide what to do without harness racing until he can reapply for his license in January.

“This is what I do for a living. I’ve been in it all my life,” Davies said. “I got my first license in 1984 and I’ve been racing in Maine, on and off, ever since. I can’t race anywhere, more or less, because other [out-of-state] tracks will likely follow Maine’s suspension.”