Daryl Bier was sidelined from harness racing in 2017 following unsuccessful back surgery that included a spinal fusion, and the outlook for him to ever train a horse again was very doubtful. Then in 2019, Neurosurgeon James Mills of Dover, Del. performed a new spinal-cord operation that included nerve root blocking and since then Bier has fully recovered.
In early 2020, Bier was ready to make a comeback, but with few owners backing him and the coronavirus halting harness racing, Bier's return had to wait. On June 5, 2020, Bier moved to New Jersey and joined Tony Alagna’s racing team as a trainer. Then, in early July, Randy Ross (CEO of Ross Bicycles) and his partner, David Guardino, were looking for a trainer for their Cheyenne Racing Stable’s two trotters, My Boy Christian and Guardino (named after David). Ross had called multiple industry insiders asking for recommendations, and one name that kept being mentioned was Bier.
In checking Bier’s credentials , Ross found that he had many high calibre horses, including Modern Family, Wind Of The North, Bandolito, Higher And Higher, Fools Gold, Special T Rocks, Wambam Sam and others. He also noticed that Bier had represented the U.S. with Wind Of The North in Sweden’s 2015 Elitloppet. Horses trained by Bier had won some of harness racing’s most prestigious races, and several set track and world records.
Ross knew that he had found his trainer, and he contacted Bier to make arrangements for him to take over the conditioning of the two horses.
Ross has been an owner and breeder since 1979 and the founder of the Cheyenne Racing Stable. Some of his outstanding stakes winners include Shauns Best Boy and Raging Goal, and he currently has two mares in foal, one to Bar Hopping and the other one with International Moni.
Bier’s comeback will begin this Friday (July 25) when both trotters, Guardino and My Boy Christian, will be qualifying at the Meadowlands Racetrack.
(USTA)