TORONTO, July 6 – Trainer Nick Gonzalez will have two chances to win the $100,000 Victoria Stakes when he sends out Tenacity Zip and Like What I See in the Saturday feature at Woodbine. A chestnut son of City Zip, Tenacity Zip, owned by Windways Farm and Mike Ambler, arrives at the five-furlong Tapeta event for two-year-olds off a debut score on June 11. Sent off as the mutuel favourite, the Kentucky-bred broke outwardly, but recovered to notch a one-length triumph over Like What I See under a hand ride from Jesse Campbell. “Jesse was really pleased with the effort,” said Gonzalez, of the colt bred by Sienna Farms LLC. “He said he ran like a four-year-old rather than a two-year-old. It was a really nice first race and hopefully, it’s even better this time.” Like What I See, a New Jersey-bred son of Bold Warrior, ducked in early in that first start before being settled mid-pack under Emma-Jayne Wilson, finishing strongly to net the runner-up prize. Owned by Julianne Lewis, Martha Gonzalez, Richard Rizzo and Ralph Klicker, the bay gelding will look to go one better with an extra half-furlong to work with. “I was really impressed with that performance,” offered Gonzalez. “He was super duper on the gallop out. Emma was very happy with the horse and had plenty of great things to say afterwards.” Campbell and Wilson will once again get the call on Tenacity Zip and Like What I See, respectively. “I think it was a good learning experience for both horses,” said Gonzalez, who is seeking his first Victoria crown. “I also think the extra half-furlong will work well for us, too. Both of them are coming into this race better than they did in their first one. It’s a time of year where you get really excited about what might be ahead for the two-year-olds, seeing them kick off their careers and watching them develop.” The Victoria is slated for race eight on the 10-race program. First post is 1 p.m. FIELD FOR THE VICTORIA Post / Horse / Jockey / Trainer 1 / Tigerbeach / Rafael Hernandez / Larry Rivelli 2 / Afterburner / Huber Villa-Gomez / Ron Potts 3 / Tenacity Zip / Jesse Campbell / Nick Gonzalez 4 / Like What I See / Emma-Jayne Wilson / Nick Gonzalez 5 / Blueblood / Patrick Husbands / Mark Casse 6 / Adios Muchacho / Jerome Lermyte / Nathan Squires Share This:Share
