Coast trainer Greg Kennedy has his fingers crossed that revolutionary stem cell surgery has saved the racing career of his impressive gelding Taisho.A hole was discovered in Taisho’s tendon in November 2005, leaving the then three-year-old’s future in serious doubt.

The hole would normally fill up with scar tissue, which is not as strong and it will usually re-tear.

After hearing that the revolutionary – and expensive – stem cell procedure was being performed in Brisbane, Kennedy and Taisho’s owner decided the Grand Lodge gelding was worth taking a gamble on.

Doctor’s cultured Taisho’s own stem cell. Two weeks later they put a little slip in the tendon and injected it all around the damaged area.

And Instead of growing scar tissue, he re-grew new tendon.

Kennedy believes Taisho is now as good as new and ready to resume racing, possibly as early as this Sunday on his home track, Corbould Park.

The stem cell procedure cost a princely $7000 and Taisho is one of only a handful of race horses to have undergone the procedure in Australia.

But Kennedy says the stayer is worth every cent of the gamble. He’s just phenomenal. He has a great attitude towards racing … he just wants to be a race horse.

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