Two-year-olds had to face a sloppy surface on a warm Wednesday morning at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, and many came through with flying colours – none more so than the first-time starters trained by John Butenschoen, for whom Corey Callahan drove four winners, in three of those contests followed by another Butenschoen pupil.

Team Callahan/Butenschoen swept the three trots for males, with the fastest being the Swan For All-Kaikoura gelding San Patricio, a first-over winner in 2:01.1 with a :29.2 final frame for owners Tony and Michael Holmes, June Zent and Timothy Thornton. Second was stablemate Nofreak Volo (Father Patrick-No Im Not).

Another 1-2 Butenschoen finish was headed the Chapter Seven-Got You BR NO gelding Rubens, who defeated Stormy Seas (Captain Corey-Tsunami Blue Chip) in 2:03.4 with a :29.4 last quarter. The trainer’s sweep of this section was rounded off by the gelding Be Green (Greenshoe-Bright Baby Blues) in 2:01.3, with his last half in :59.3 first-over.

Butenschoen also had a 1-2 finish in the baby filly trotter ranks, with Litt Up (Bar Hopping-Miss Fidget) vacating the pocket for Callahan and coming home in :29.4 to win in 2:05.2 over barnmate Avenzee (Gimpanzee-Avenir). The other winner in this group was a filly who won at Saratoga in her bow then came to Pocono and won again: Alexandriabluechip, a daughter of Greenshoe- Queendom who went in 2:03.3 with a :29.4 final frame for driver Braxten Boyd and trainer Emily Bost.

A story about racing at Pocono these days can’t go very far without including driver Tyler Buter, so we can introduce him here by saying he drove all three of the second-place finishers in the 1-2 Butenschoen trot sweeps, then state that he drove a pair of Hunter Oakes trainees to their second straight baby wins in the pacing filly ranks. Imagine Heaven (Papi Rob Hanover-OK Heavenly) was the fastest freshman of the sloppy session when she went wire-to-wire in 1:56.3 with a :28.2 last quarter for owners Flying A Racing Stable, Lucky Strike and Charles Oakes.

Tall Dark Stranger sired the other pacing filly winners, including the Team Buter/Oakes miss Tall Dark Tequila (dam Tequila Monday), home in 1:58 out of the pocket after a :27.2 closing quarter. Tall Dark Stranger also sired Beatrice Hanover (dam Beyond Ecstasy), giving Buter a sweep of the three divisions of this class with an engine score in 1:58.3 by a head, holding on in a :29 final frame.

Not to miss out on the 1-2 finish fun, trainer Travis Alexander had a pair of American Ideal colts within a nose of each other in one section of that group’s races, with American Renegade (dam Hathaway Anne) out-closing Hard To Forget (dam Nota Fool Bluechip) in :29.1 while winning in 2:00.2 for driver Ridge Warren.

The faster winner in the two battles among this division went to the Huntsville gelding Wish You The Best (dam Regal Wish), coming on in :28 to get the win in 1:57.3 while marking the second win of the day for Buter and trainer Deborah Daguet.

(With files from PHHA/Pocono)