The photo finish camera had to go to work in both $35,000 Progress Pace eliminations for 3-year-old colts and geldings on Thursday night at Bally's Dover, and it revealed that the winners were Stockade Seelster and Cannibal. In the first elimination El Rey (Dexter Dunn) got away well from the pole position, but David Miller and Stockade Seelster drove on two-wide next to him and took charge before the 27 2/5 opening quarter. Stockade Seelster kept control through the 55 2/5 half and 1:23 three-quarters as Bugaboo Lou (Tim Tetrick) put in a first-over grind that got him only to Stockade Seelster's wheel on the final bend. Through the stretch Stockade Seelster was game and continued to show the way as El Rey rallied in the passing lane from the pocket and Ervin Hanover (Yannick Gingras) came with a charge from second-over. Both of them fell short to Stockade Seelster, though, as he was able to hold sway by a nose in 1:50 4/5. El Rey and Ervin Hanover were second and third, respectively, in the tight three-horse ending, and Bugaboo Lou held on to grab the last spot in the final. "(Being aggressive)'s been working so far with him," Miller said post-race. "He was getting there easy enough. As soon as Dexter got everybody backing off, then I went on. It worked out all right. "He raced very well. I was very happy with him. He had horses getting to him on both sides, but I was just telling them 'he dug in late there.'" Dr. Ian Moore trains Stockade Seelster, a State Treasurer colt bred by Seelster Farms, for owners Sally and Paul MacDonald. He has a summary of 15-4-6 from 29 attempts, has now earned C$1,246,488 and paid $3.80 to win after being sent off as the 4-5 favorite. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Why Not Now (Andy McCarthy) sped to the lead in a 26 1/5 quarter in the other elimination, but 3-5 choice Cannibal (Gingras) looped from the pocket to the point after that station. Cannibal got to the half in just 55 1/5 but then picked up the pace to three-quarters in 1:22 4/5 to stall out a first-over attempt by Seven Colors (Dunn). With Seven Colors beginning to fade off the far turn, it was down to just Cannibal and Why Not Now to the wire, and although Why Not Now finished well, he came up a nostril shy of Cannibal in a 1:51 mile. Hungry Angel Boy (Scott Zeron) turned an inside trip into a third-place result, and Moment Is Here (Tetrick) got up for fourth off the cover of Seven Colors to also make the final. "He's handy. You can do whatever you want with him. The second quarter didn't hurt, but the horse raced good," Gingras remarked after the race. "Why Not Now on my back had some good pace. It was a good battle to the wire, but thankfully we came out on top." A Sweet Lou colt bred by Diamond Creek Farm and campaigned by their racing operation, Cannibal is trained by Nancy Takter. He has 15 wins, five seconds and two thirds in 26 lifetime tries, has pocketed $764,240 and returned $3.20 to win. "He's a real gentleman to be around. He does work, and he shows up every day to do his work," Takter offered. "That was his 18th start of the year, so the year is getting long for him, but he just shows up and does his job." The last Grand Circuit race of 2023 for 3-year-olds, the $260,000 final of the Progress Pace is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, November 22.