With 13 three-year-old male pacers entered for the $260,000 Progress Pace, a pair of eliminations will take place this Thursday, Nov. 16 at Dover Downs.
The final of the Progress Pace will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 22 featuring the top four finishers from each $35,000 elimination (trainers must re-enter for the final).
O'Brien Award winner Stockade Seelster headlines the elimination entries for trainer Dr. Ian Moore. The State Treasurer colt has hit the board in 14 of his 17 sophomore starts this year, sending his career bankroll over the $1.5 million mark for Canadian owners Sally MacDonald and Paul MacDonald. The sub-1:49 pacer was the Breeders Crown runner-up to the sport's top-ranked horse, Confederate (not entered), and heads into the Progress eliminations off a close third-place place finish in the Monument Circle on Nov. 3 at Hoosier Park. He is the 2-1 morning line favourite in the first elimination, with David Miller back aboard.
At 5-2 on the morning line, the Nancy Takter-trained Adios and Tattersalls Pace champion Cannibal, who finished third in the Breeders Crown, is the early favourite in the second elimination that includes a pair of $25,000 supplemental entries -- trainer Dylan Davis' Indiana Sires Stakes champion and Monument Circle runner-up Why Not Now and Ontario Sires Stakes champion Moment Is Here, who was a $285,500 USD acquisition last month for his current connections and is now trained by Ron Burke.
The complete fields for the eliminations are listed below.
$35,000 Progress Pace - Elimination 1 (Race 8)
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. El Rey - Dexter Dunn - Andrew Harris - 5-2
2. Stockade Seelster - David Miller - Ian Moore - 2-1
3. Ervin Hanover - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke - 9-2
4. Fulton - Scott Zeron - Linda Toscano - 7-2
5. Bugaboo Lou - Tim Tetrick - Ron Burke - 8-1
6. Ammo - Andrew McCarthy - Joe Holloway - 6-1
$35,000 Progress Pace - Elimination 2 (Race 10)
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer - Morning Line Odds
1. Tip Top Cat - David Miller - Ron Burke - 10-1
2. Seven Colors - Dexter Dunn - Andrew Harris - 7-2
3. Cannibal - Yannick Gingras - Nancy Takter - 5-2
4. Brue Hanover - Simon Allard - Ron Burke - 8-1
5. Hungry Angel Boy - Scott Zeron - Nicholas Devita - 8-1
6. Why Not Now - Andrew McCarthy - Dylan Davis - 9-2
7. Moment Is Here - Tim Tetrick - Ron Burke - 6-1