Vic Smith will race for new owners this year, but he will stay in familiar hands

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Julie Miller, who trained and co-owned Vic Smith with her husband, Andy, and Larry Baron’s Baron Racing Stable, said Wednesday that the three-year-old colt trotter was sold to Swedish interests in a deal brokered by agent Ole Bach. Miller will continue to train Vic Smith, who won six of 11 races and earned $213,275 last season.

“Larry and I decided if someone came up with a great offer and it was worth our while, we would sell him,” Miller said. “Ole Bach had some Swedish interests that were looking for a nice three-year-old trotting colt, and that’s how it all developed.

“It still was a tough decision because, even though it’s a business, when you’re with the horses day to day you become attached to them. Especially when a horse you’ve picked out at a yearling sale has a great two-year-old year and you’re expecting a phenomenal three-year-old year, it is a hard choice. At the same time, selling him was probably the best choice for us.”

Bach, who helped pick out 2011 Hambletonian champion Broad Bahn with Danish owner Leif Alber, declined to name the new owners, but said finding a Hambletonian contender was the goal. He previously was involved with Hambletonian finalists Adrian Chip and Please Poppy in 2007 and Clerk Magistrate and Atomic Hall in 2008, as well as Fawkes last year.

“He was bought with the intention of getting to the Hambo,” Bach said. “He’s shown an enormous will to win. I liked that he hadn’t been blasted completely in speed last year, but he’s shown enough that he’s a serious horse.”

Vic Smith’s top victory came in the $175,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes final, which he won by 4-3/4 lengths over Big Chocolate in 1:56.1. His best win time last season was 1:56, which came in winning a Kindergarten Classic division at Vernon Downs. That time was tied for 22nd fastest among all two-year-old trotters last year, but Vic Smith is expected to show more speed this season. He was rated No. 8 in the Hoof Beats/TrackMaster Predictive Rankings for the fastest three-year-old trotters in 2012.

Miller was most impressed with Vic Smith’s win in the sire stakes final because the colt maintained his composure as several horses went off stride around him near the start.

“My horse made a little bobble and I thought, ‘Here we go.’ He had every excuse to make a break, but he didn’t and he went on to win the race,” Miller said. “Right then I knew that he got it. He wanted to be a good horse and wanted to do his job.

“I was really happy with him last year. He didn’t give me any problems. He liked his job. The biggest thing is that he wanted to pass horses and win races. People say they can teach it, but if it’s a natural talent you’re one step ahead of the game.”

Vic Smith, who was purchased for $30,000 at the Lexington Selected Sale, is a son of Yankee Glide out of the mare PJ Naomi. He is a half-brother to Sergeant York, who lost the 2008 Ontario Sire Stakes Super Final by a head to Define The World, and his full-sister Gliding Light sold for $150,000 as a yearling last October.

“He was really athletic looking and he was a Yankee Glide, which is something I was kind of wanting,” Miller said about selecting Vic Smith. “He just looked the part. He caught my eye. He was one that I put a star by and it ended up happening.”

Miller said Vic Smith has trained in 2:18 so far this year. She plans on bringing him back in time for the New Jersey Sire Stakes in mid-May with the ultimate goal being a trip to August’s $1.5 million Hambletonian at the Meadowlands.

“He’s doing everything right,” Miller said. “He’s staked to everything in the U.S. and Canada and hopefully we’re at the big show. That is the big goal. Hopefully everything goes well and we’re ready for the Hambletonian.”

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This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.