Milton, ON — Marcus Melander pupil Neighver Punt worked from mid-field off a covered trip and gradually reeled in his competition to score the winning blow late and take the C$240,000 Grade 2 Goodtimes Stakes, for 3-year-old trotting colts and geldings, on Saturday night (June 13) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Royal Captain ripped off the wings of the gate to take the lead to a :26.3 first quarter chased by Dream For Peace and Classified rolling into third. Touchedbyanangel gapped the top three from fourth but gathered speed into the backstretch to swoop to the lead before a :55.4 half, at which point 3-5 favorite Magic Punk pulled off of the pylons from fifth to lead an outside attack.
Magic Punk advanced up the rim through the last turn to match strides with Touchedbyanangel while tracked by Strobe Lite from second over and Neighver Punt from third over. Touchedbyanangel grasped to his diminishing lead past three-quarters in 1:24.2 and resisted Magic Punk’s charge until the final eighth of a mile. Strobe Lite built momentum off cover as did Neighver Punt down the center of the track once Magic Punk hit the front. Neighver Punt, as he did to win his elimination, laid sight on the leader and extended for the finish to reach the line a winner in 1:52 by 1-3/4 lengths. Magic Punk clung to second from Strobe Lite in third while Touchedbyanangel held onto fourth.
“We just had no early go there,” driver Dexter Dunn said after the race. “He was a little shy [of the starter]. We got away back, but we were following two favorites so I knew we would get a good drag into it. I had nurse him on the last turn quite a bit but he really exploded off a helmet up the straight. He was struggling a little bit with his gait [being shoeless], but they had the pulldown blind on him tonight. I pulled them down going around the last turn and got him up on the bit. In the homestraight, when I really asked him, he was gold.”
A colt by Bar Hopping out of the Donato Hanover mare Twice Is Right, Neighver Punt won his second race from four starts this season and his third race from 13 starts in his career, earning $230,654 for owner Courant Inc. Trainer Marcus Melander collected his first victory in the Goodtimes Stakes while Dexter Dunn earned his second, his first coming back in 2022 when steering Fast As The Wind to victory. Sent the second choice in the betting, Neighver Punt paid $7 to win.
Watch the Goodtimes Stakes replay