Wouldn’t it be great if we could tell every owner of a racehorse that suffered a broken bone that all you need to do is give it time to heal? Certainly after last Saturday’s 1:47 victory by Mel Mara at The Meadowlands, there would be living proof that horses can recover from broken coffin bones and return to their former selves. [SCIOTO DOWNS: Watch top older trotters compete in the $210,000 Charlie Hill--Live on DRF Saturday!] Justification for time to heal is at the core of the issue and economic reality is why so few horses have the opportunity to come back. In the case of Mel Mara, a now 7-year-old son of Lis Mara, you have a horse that was gifted enough to perhaps race in the greatest crop of 3-year-olds this sport has known. The depth and talent of that group made it difficult even for a horse of this incredible talent to stand out. In 2012, Mel Mara did beat Sweet Lou on the Red Mile surface fair and square. He showed incredibly high speed, but perhaps due to the competition or other issues, was generally a one-run type horse when it came to elite competition. His return to the races this January had to be marked with trepidation. Missing 15 months is a long time and often time away doesn’t lead to impressive results. In fact, Mel Mara’s early returns when in the hands of his long-time trainer Tony Alagna were not of the same caliber one might have expected during his 2 and 3-year-old campaigns. Facing lower level conditioned horses, Mel Mara was in the group but not above the group. Inevitably a transaction needed to take place and the outcome was that Robert Cooper and Jerry and Theresa Silva would buy the aged horse and hand him over to new trainer Dylan Davis. “The owners bought the horse and gave him to me,” said Davis of the transaction. “An owner of mine, Howard Taylor, recommended me.” Davis had trained just one horse for the owners by the name of Go Collect N and Mel Mara was the second. “I have a stable based at Hoosier Park,” said Davis. “When they gave me the horse I suggested that he might be a good fit to race out there. They race an Invitational, an Open and an Open II.” The bar may have been set low, but after a few starts Davis is looking at the bigger picture. “I thought he could pace in (1) :48,” said Davis. “I was surprised the other night when he paced 26 3/5 third quarter and 25 4/5 coming home.” The 1:47 clocking was just a fifth off the world record, but perhaps more impressive was the higher level of competition the horse has now beaten. On May 14 he came within a neck of defeating Always B Miki, last year’s Aged Breeders Crown champion. On that night driver Corey Callahan raced him from off the pace while Always B Miki cut a rated pace and appeared to have the champion at his mercy. In the deep stretch Always B Miki fought back to prevail. Ironically the tables were turned this past Saturday when Mel Mara hit the front end and Always B Miki was taken back to trail in the field of just six. Always B Miki was forced to come without cover and never got close to Mel Mara, perhaps feeling the sting of the 52 2/5 final half. “We’re going to have to look for some Invitationals,” said Davis. “We’ve talked about perhaps supplementing him as well.” Davis believes much of the work in returning Mel Mara to this level was done before he arrived in his stable. “He had seven starts before we got him,” said Davis. “Tony (Alagna) did a great job in bringing him back.” The trainer believes that any horse returning from such a long absence needs more than a couple of starts to come close to regaining their former self. “I’ve put him on my program, which is a lot of jogging and a lot of swimming,” said Davis, with a mindset to keep the horse fit and happy. “He’s a spectacular looking horse. He’s big and strong,” said Davis. In a year where we’ve already seen an abundance of exceptional talent in the aged pacing rankings, Mel Mara has risen to the elite level. He was previously fourth to Wiggle It Jiggeit in the Dorothy Mullin at Harrah’s Philadelphia, where he essentially had no chance of gaining ground into a wicked last half mile. For Davis, who also operates a successful stable in Delaware and totals the horses under his care at 45, Mel Mara is the kind of horse that gets you noticed. That’s surprising considering how well another horse in his stable has done over the last 15 months. Fearless Diablo, an 8-year-old son of Art Major, has been with Davis since March of 2012. He was a horse with wicked speed but obviously lacking in soundness. After starting just 17 times in 2013-14 combined, Fearless Diablo had a career year in 2015, racing 31 times with 12 wins and 7 seconds. He managed to rack up earnings in excess of $144,000 in the process. This year Fearless Diablo has returned again to race with Invitational performers at Hoosier Park and has already earned $45,000 in just seven starts. Davis came up through the ranks like many in this industry and that is through family. His step-brother is Kevin Lare and step-father is John “Tink” Lare. Racing has a way of giving horses a second and third chance to achieve stardom. Maybe new surroundings for Mel Mara have been the difference. At the same time, it’s also possible that he was racing as well as a horse could as a 3-year-old and just had the disadvantage of being born in the wrong year. A Rocknroll Dance, Pet Rock, Sweet Lou, Bolt The Duer, Thinking Out Loud, Warrawee Needy and an also-ran named State Treasurer are names that can overshadow a horse with the talent of Mel Mara. In 2016 he’ll have to deal with a few new great ones, but a sound Mel Mara should be heard from.