Injured Horse

Question
Hi, love your website.  We claimed a thoroughbred about a year ago.  He was 6 years old at the time of the claim. The horse had about 30 races lifetime with 4 wins.  After the claim, our trainer said that he had him injected in a stifle joint to reduce some inflammation.  He ran about three weeks later.  He ran a one mile race and did ok for the first six furlongs and then faded badly.  His second race about a month later was an exact duplicate. At that time we did switch trainers and the new trainer said he needed to rest for three months before beginning to train again.  Five months later our horse had another race. The distance was again one mile and again he competed well until the final quarter and then faded again.  The new trainer said he had some problems with a shoe and somewhat injured a rear foot.  To make a long story short, our horse is now out to pasture with no timetable as to when he may race again.  The horse has very good breeding, sire was Holy Bull, but since his is a gelding there will be no breeding.  Our question is, can a horse with this kind of background and a long layoff ever return to racing? Thank you for your time.  

Answer
hi  yes  most race horses that have had a in jury will come back to race when they have a period of rest . you should have your vet examine the horse before you think of putting him back into training, that way you will know exactly how the horse is. back end problems can cause a horse to stop badly in a race, but you also have to look at the horses wind and bleeding that may be the hidden problem. let your vet give him a examination and do not tell him anything about the horses problem, that way he won't be looking for any particular problem and will look at the horse in general. also check for breathing problems and leg problems. i would also think about having a physic give you a reading on the horse, as they can sense a problem a vet cannot. with any back end problems plain shoes are recommended as they do not jolt or jar the horse when he lands . ok  hope this helps you  thanks ED HESS