This Week: Fall Four and FanDuel finals, Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, N.J. and Progress Pace final, Bally’s Dover, Dover, Del.

Schedule of events: The Grand Circuit returns to Dover Downs this Wednesday (Nov. 22) for the $260,000 Progress Pace final for 3-year-old open pacers.

On Saturday night (Nov. 25), Meadowlands Racetrack will host the Fall Four events for freshman pacers and trotters and the FanDuel series finals for open pacers and trotters. The Fall Four features the $423,000 Valley Victory for 2-year-old male trotters, the $428,000 Goldsmith Maid for 2-year-old filly trotters, the $454,000 Governor’s Cup for 2-year-old male pacers and the $376,000 Three Diamonds for 2-year-old filly pacers. The FanDuel finals consist of the $350,000 Open Pace, the $350,000 Open Trot, the $175,000 Mare Pace and the $175,000 Mare Trot.

Complete entries for the races are available at this link.

Last time: Stockade Seelster ($3.80) and Cannibal ($3.20) both won — albeit narrowly — as the odds-on favorites in their respective $35,000 eliminations of the Progress Pace, for 3-year-old colts and geldings, on Thursday (Nov. 16) at Bally’s Dover.

Stockade Seelster held his ground under late pressure to win the first Progress Pace elimination. Fotowon photo.

Stockade Seelster proved resolute in the first Progress elimination, surviving a backstretch blitz from Bugaboo Lou before outlasting a two-pronged stretch challenge to win in 1:50.4.

David Miller pushed Stockade Seelster forward to clear El Rey (Dexter Dunn) midway on the first turn, and the State Treasurer-Soiree Seelster colt controlled early fractions of :27.2 and :55.2 before Bugaboo Lou (Tim Tetrick) emerged from fifth and marched first-over up the backstretch to engage Stockade Seelster on the far turn.

Bugaboo Lou got to within a half-length of Stockade Seelster midway on the far turn, but the biggest threats came in the final sixteenth when El Rey lunged up the open stretch and Ervin Hanover (Yannick Gingras) hooked three-wide around the stalled Bugaboo Lou. Stockade Seelster survived the late onslaught by a diminishing nose over El Rey and Ervin Hanover, second and third, respectively. Bugaboo Lou, beaten 1-1/2 lengths, finished fourth.

Dr. Ian Moore trains Stockade Seelster, a 15-time winner with $1,246,488 in career earnings, for Sally and Paul MacDonald.

In the second elimination, Cannibal and Gingras yielded to Why Not Now (Andy McCarthy) through a :26.1 first quarter before pulling the pocket to take charge with a lap to go. The Sweet Lou-No More Losses colt was unchallenged through middle splits of :55.1 and 1:22.4 before Why Not Now reemerged up the open stretch. Cannibal, driven out off the home turn, prevailed by a nose over Why Not Now in 1:51. Hungry Angel Boy (Scott Zeron) was third, 1-3/4 lengths behind.

Nancy Takter trains Cannibal, a 15-time winner who has earned $764,240, for Diamond Creek Racing.

Complete recaps of all the races are available at the Grand Circuit website.

Grand Circuit Standings: In 2023, the Grand Circuit leaders in three categories (driver, trainer and owner) will once again be tracked on a points system (20-10-5 for the top three finishers in divisions/finals and 10-5-2 for the top three finishers in eliminations/legs). Winbak Farms is the sponsor for the 2023 Grand Circuit awards.

Here are the leaders (through the races on 11-18-23):

Drivers: 1. Yannick Gingras – 1,334; 2. Tim Tetrick – 1,170; 3. Dexter Dunn – 1,149; 4. David Miller – 1,067; 5. Scott Zeron – 952.

Trainers: 1. Ron Burke – 1,597; 2. Ake Svanstedt – 1,345; 3. Nancy Takter – 680; 4. Tony Alagna – 634; 5. Linda Toscano – 489.

Owners: 1. Diamond Creek Racing – 442.6; 2. Burke Racing Stable – 319.9; 3. Weaver Bruscemi – 212.1; 4. Hudson Standardbred Stable – 210.8; 5. Brad Grant – 189.9.

Looking ahead: The 2023 Grand Circuit season will conclude this week; the 2024 Grand Circuit schedule will be released in February.