Wilkes-Barre PA — Ten fields of 2-year-olds went behind the starting gate at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Wednesday morning (June 7) with two divisions for colts of each gait, and three each for their filly counterparts.

The biggest winner in the freshman qualifiers was trainer/driver Todd Schadel, who sent out three successful pupils. He had the quickest of the trotting distaffs out for their education, the International Moni–Janderson miss Jakarta Hanover, who went wire-to-wire in 2:00.1, with a last quarter of :28.3. Schadel co-owns the precocious miss with Jim Simpson.

Fastest of all the day’s freshmen was the Huntsville–Peppermint Patti gelding Vandiemen Bluechip. He pounced from the pocket with a :28.1 last quarter to stop the timer in 1:57.3 for driver Scott Zeron, trainer Ashley Eldred, and Blue Chip Bloodstock Inc.

Huntsville also sired the swiftest pacing filly, Bronx Barista (dam Apricot Sour). She moved from well-back early and went her own last three-quarters in 1:27.1 in reaching the wire first in 1:59 for driver Mark MacDonald and trainer Ray Schnittker, the latter co-owner with Ted Gewertz and Kitefield Stable.

Trainer/driver Åke Svanstedt sent out the continental-bred Tony Adams S, a son of Muscle Hill–Dreamgirl Hornline, who raced in the pocket, then buzzed home in :28.3 to win in 2:00.2 for Stall Arsenal AB.

Svanstedt also debuted a very promising older horse, the Creatine ridgling Asteroid, who has almost $200,000 in career earnings and was racing in Sweden and Norway at the end of last year. Asteroid rocked to a wire-to-wire, 1:54.1 victory in his qualifier, with a last quarter of :26.4. Asteroid is owned by Suleyman Yuksel Stables Inc. and Michael Falk.

These qualifiers can be seen on the PHHA website, www.phha.org (a reminder that drivers do not always wear their driving colors in qualifiers).