In the final morning session for baby qualifiers at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania, five of the eight freshman contests were for pacing colts, and they were swept by trainers Travis Alexander and Hunter Oakes.
Alexander had three of the winners, including 1-2 finishes in two of the races; they also happened to be the quickest pair as well as both being repeaters.
Driven by Matt Kakaley, Primacy Station went down the road in 1:55.3 with a :27.4 final quarter and the American Ideal-Preeminence colt beat out barnmate Brookie Cookie (Heston Blue Chip-Squeaky) for the ownership of Alexander Racing Stable of Delray Beach, Florida, C M T Farms of Arnprior, Ont., EVM Racing of Middletown, Delaware and James Scarpias of Massapequa, New York. Bred by Spring Station Bloodstock, Primacy Station was a $100,000 yearling acquisition out of the 2025 Lexington Select Sale.
Also with double success in the morning races is the Heston Blue Chip-Counterparty Risk colt Current Events, who here sat in the pocket behind stablemate Takes Courage (American Courage-Norinoro Hanover) then beat that one by a neck in 1:56.2 at the end of a :28.3 closing quarter under Ridge Warren’s handling.
Alexander’s third winner among the males was the American Courage-Ascending colt Bastonata Bluechip, with Kakaley guiding him to a 1:58.1 victory with a :28 final quarter clocking in his second outing.
Oakes’s two colts were both driven by Tyler Buter. Babylon Blue Chip, a Huntsville-Onassis Blue Chip colt, overcame interference past the three-quarters and still finished in 1:57 first-over for the triumph, making him a member of the "Two-Win Club," while the Captain Crunch-Dandys Sweetness gelding Dapper Station won from in front in 1:57.2; he too now has two baby race victories.
There was one division for each of the other three groups of two-year-olds, and Alexander-Kakaley accounted for the filly pace as well: Sublime Hanover (Stay Hungry-So Perfect) came out of the two-hole to win in 1:58.4 with a :28.1 finale.
On the trotting side, the Walner-Bella Glos colt Extra Anejo wired his field in 2:00.2 with a :29.1 last quarter for driver Tyler Buter and trainer Ray Schnittker, co-owner with Ted Gewertz of New York City and Nolamaura Racing of Goshen, New York. Bred by Black Horse Racing, the four-time baby race starter was a $104,167 yearling purchased out of the Lexington sale. He's a full brother to the $200,000+ earning four-year-old mare Grand Reserve, a Grand Circuit stakes winner at The Red Mile last year.
The Captain Corey-Swizzle Sticks filly Stir The Pot was first-over from well back in winning in 2:01.2, getting up for the 2-1/2-length victory with a :29.1 finale for driver Braxten Boyd and trainer Jenny Melander.
It won’t be long now before the two-year-olds begin their stakes careers: the first freshman stakes at Pocono is an All-Stars event for the trotting colts on the Fourth of July, a Saturday, while the Pennsylvania fair season opens three days earlier in Butler.
(With files from PHHA/Pocono)