Wilkes-Barre, PA — It was the Tyler Buter show on Sunday night (May 5) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, as the driver who recently passed the 3,000 career win milestone hit a grand slam in winning the top four races, two on both gaits.
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In the $17,500 featured trot, Buter got away fifth with the favored Muscle Massive gelding Two AM, but the overland journey posed little problem for the career winner of $377,210 against a front end which had been softened a bit by a contentious early duel. Two AM battled pacesetting Truemass Volo the last five-sixteenths of a mile, then drew away from that one to have a 3-1/4 length margin at the wire in 1:54.3. Todd Buter is the trainer for Buter Farm Inc., Lynette Buter, and William and Carol Fuhs.
In the $17,000 co-featured trot, Rich And Miserable reported home first for the third time in his last four starts, the Explosive Matter gelding winning easily in 1:56.2. Buter moved the recent winner of the $73,000 SOANY series final from seventh early to first by the three-eighths, then remained in control to the wire for the same team behind Two AM: trainer Todd Buter and owners Buter Farm Inc., Lynette Buter, and William and Carol Fuhs.
The pacing headliners were a pair of $15,000 events, both going to Buter-driven sons of American Ideal, both Chris Oakes trainees with sparkling pedigrees making their 2019 debuts.
In the first, American Mercury was a 1:53 winner despite an adventurous trip. Briefly three-wide past the three-eighths on a determined move to the top nearing the half, American Mercury drew clear in the stretch to win by three lengths for the ownership of Crawford Farms Racing, Northfork Racing Stable, Chuck Pompey, and Scott Bice. This one could be anything as he’s out of Tessa Hanover, a Somebeachsomewhere mare out of Triplet Hanover, who produced six $100,000 winners, including Trim Hanover, who was the dam of American Jewel and Luck Be Withyou.
The other eye-catching Oakes-conditioned sophomore was Shake That House, a three-quarter brother to Breeders Crown winner Split The House, both out of the mare Shake That Junk. From the outside post eight Buter spotted him fifth, then moved him second-over. When he tipped three-wide midway on the far turn, the main question seemed to be the margin of victory, although to his credit JM’S Delight, who had been used three times in the mile, kept the margin to a length at the end of the 1:53.2 journey. Crawford Farms Racing and Northfork Racing Stable returned to partner with Alan Johnston behind this good-looking sophomore.
Winning the featured quartet gave Tyler Buter nine wins on the weekend — three Saturday afternoon, two Saturday night, and four Sunday — but even that total put him one behind Anthony Napolitano (four Saturday afternoon, four Saturday night, two Sunday) going into the last race of the weekend. Both were participants, but it was Anthony Napolitano in the winner’s circle with Tigers Too Good, making the final weekend score Napolitano-11, Buter-9 — just at Pocono. Both made remarkable showings, and between them they won 59 percent of all the races contested over the Saturday-Sunday period.