Vic The Brick showed quite a bit of promise for Steve Hyman when he began his career two years ago at Cal-Expo, but when he broke a bone in his leg while training at the end of that campaign, his trainer figured that would be the last he would see of this son of Hi Ho Silverheels as far as racing was concerned.

“His owner and breeder, Alan Kirschenbaum, gave him a year of green grass, and then he called me up and said he wanted to get him back into training,” Hyman related. “Because of what he showed us at two, he certainly deserved the chance.”

Fast forward to Thursday night (December 16) and Vic The Brick will be gunning for his third straight trip to the winner’s circle while moving up a notch in class. While his two scores have come against relatively easy company, it has to be considered an accomplishment when you take into account that he was away from the wars for over a year.

“To be honest, I’m disappointed he hasn’t come back better, especially when he went the first 16 races without a win,” Hyman said. “Maybe we were just racing him too high, because when we dropped into a soft claiming level, he came to life.”

In his December 2 score, Vic The Brick was parked the entire mile from outside post, but just kept on trucking and showed plenty of heart that night to win clear. Last week’s victory saw him doing the track-and-pounce to perfection for Hyman as the even-money choice.

“I think it’s actually been a combination of the class drop and his getting a little better, and this week we’re going to find a lot more. This is a tougher group than what he’s facing, so it should be a good test.”

There will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday night harness racing this week at Cal-Expo, and then the trotters and pacers will take a week off before returning to action on Thursday, December 30. There will be a special December 31 New Year’s Eve program at 3:40 p.m. (PST), and a January 1 card to officially welcome the 2011 season.

Live racing will resume at Cal Expo on Thursday, December 16 and will continue through Saturday, December 18. Approximate first-race post time on Thursday is 5:20 p.m. (PST). Approximate first-race post time on Friday, December 17 and Saturday is 5:40 p.m.

On Saturdays, Cal-Expo offers a reduced 15 per cent takeout rate on both the Early and Late Pick-4 wagers, with both Pick-4s now having a $10,000 gross-guaranteed pool.

(Cal-Expo)