Bright Bet, Barley A Lie do best at Dayton

Dayton, OH – Bright Bet and Barley A Lie beat the strong winds and frigid temperatures to take the $18,000 co-featured condition claiming paces on Monday (Dec. 29) night at Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway.

Bright Bet (Luke Hanners) was the best during a four-horse scramble for the early lead and led the harness racing field of eight past the opening quarter in :27.1.

The bettor’s choice, Bars And Notes (Brett Miller), picked up the cover from Stars Over Sydney (Sam Widger) before the half-mile station in :57.

Bright Bet turned away his two main challengers passing the three-quarters in 1:24.2 and a :28.4 final quarter into the strong headwind provided a 4 ¾ length win in 1:53.1.

Bars And Notes held on for second and Rosetown Eclipse (Cam McCown) used a rail saving trip to grab third.

BRIGHT BET REPLAY

The gelded son of Bettor’s Wish is trained by Virgil Morgan, Jr. for the Let It Ride Stable, Island Sun Stable and Richard Freese.

Bright Bet finishes his three-year-old season with 15 on the board finishes in 23 seasonal starts.

The second division, Barley A Lie (Sam Widger) used a three-wide move in the final turn to score an 19-1 upset.

Odds On Mad Hatter (Luke Hanners) was the first away from the gate and led the field past the opening quarter in :28 and half in :56.4.

Rockinpoppin (Tyler Smith) was the first to move to the outside and provided the necessary cover for the eventual winner.

Odds On Had Hatter passed the three-quarters in 1:24.4.

Barley A Lie went three-wide around a tiring Rockinpoppin and passed the leader in the final strides to record a half-length victory in 1:53.3.

A fast closing Draw Off (Pat Malloy, Jr.) was another length back in third.

BARLEY A LIE REPLAY

The four-year-old Charley Barley gelding made his first start for new owner David Beachy and trainer Elson Miller a winning one.

Barley A Lie paid $40.80 to win for his backers.

Tyler Smith led all drivers with a grand slam on the 14-race card. Sam Widger and Luke Hanners had triples.

The 2025 Dayton Raceway meet concludes on Tuesday (Dec. 30) with a 4:00 p.m., post time. Free past performance pages are available at hollywooddaytonraceway.com.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

By Jay Wolf for Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway