Hey - wanted your opinion on the effect a layoff has on horses here in the US.
In the Uk - I would not touch a horse after a lay-off until he had had a run or two to get him back to track fitness, even if that horse was the class/speed horse in the race ... over here however it seems that a much larger percentage of horses coming back from a long lay-off seem to run quite well first time out after a break....

Is this something that anyone has an opinion on?

Are some trainers better than others at getting horses fit after a lay-off?
Are some tracks/surfaces easier to come back on?
What are your own rules when considering horses back from a long break?
Are there figures available showing trainer stats with these types of horse?

Thanks for the input .. this is one of those areas that i'm just unsure how to figure it into my handicapping.

It depends on the layoff, the horse, the trainer, all kinds of stuff. Some trainers are good at get horses to run well off the shelf, some horses like to be freshened before their next race, some like to just run run run, and stink when coming off layoffs. As i said it all depends.