Wilkes-Barre, PA — The leading horsepeople (and defending champions) in their respective statistical categories at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, driver Tyler Buter and trainer Ron Burke, combined to win Tuesday’s (June 30) $20,000 featured fast-class trot at the mountain oval with Southwind Coors, who boosted his lifetime earnings to $752,456 with a 1:52.2 victory.
The Walner gelding was content to sit in the pocket behind the pace set by Super Duper Cooper, who got away with mild fractions of :27.3, :56.3 and 1:25. Buter got Southwind Coors into high gear midway on the final bend, and he trotted his own last quarter in :27.1 to defeat the pacesetter by 2 lengths for Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi and Phil Collura.
Up-and-coming trotters gathered for a $15,500 co-feature, with Buter again the winning driver as the Gimpanzee filly R Zee lowered her lifetime best to 1:54.2. The John Butenschoen trainee took early control from the pole and set the pace, then saw off a couple of threats in the final quarter to earn the victory for lessees M And L DE / Armitage Farm.
With the Pennsylvania stakes season for 2-year-olds just around the corner, there were pacing races carded for both sexes. The two male winners, both making their pari-mutuel bows after double qualifying victories and both making moves to command, were the Huntsville-Onassis Blue Chip colt Babylon Blue Chip, who won in 1:55 for driver Buter, trainer Hunter Oakes, and Exceed Stables LLC; and the American Ideal-Preeminence colt Primary Station, a 1:55.2 winner for driver Matt Kakaley, trainer Travis Alexander, and the partnership of Alexander Racing Stable LLC, C M T Farms, EVM Racing and James Scarpias.
The one freshman pace for fillies was captured by Buter with the Papi Rob Hanover-Happy Hannah miss Happy Papi, a winner in her only prep race before winning in 1:57.2 after picking her way through traffic difficulties on the far turn. Nicholas DeVita conditions the promising miss for David Hamm and Glenn Phillips.
In all, Buter paraded back five winners Tuesday; doublers included drivers Matt Kakaley and Anthony Napolitano and trainer Travis Alexander.
Pocono’s PHHA sister track, Harrah’s Philadelphia, has canceled its Thursday and Friday racing because of the expected heat, so the next scheduled eastern Pennsylvania pari-mutuel action is Pocono’s 1 p.m. card Saturday (July 4). On that day, the Pennsylvania All-Stars series for 2-year-olds will get underway with three $30,000 divisions for male trotters. Free Pocono program pages are or will be available at www.phha.org.