Kenneally shipper Atomic City bears watching in Adirondack
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Eddie Kenneally has reduced the number of horses he’s run in Saratoga over the last several years, but he bears watching when he does ship in from Kentucky.
Kenneally has gone 6 for 24 here over the last five years, three of those wins coming in juvenile stakes.
Sunday, Kenneally will start his first horse of the 2024 Saratoga meet when he sends out Atomic City in a highly competitive running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Adirondack Stakes for 2-year-old fillies going 6 1/2 furlongs.
A daughter of Twirling Candy, Atomic City was a 1 1/4-length debut winner at Churchill Downs on June 28, covering the distance in 1:10.90 and earning a 60 Beyer Speed Figure. She took some pressure from Olivia’s Potion, put that one away, and then held the late-running Miss Martini at bay to the wire.
“She showed some professionalism, she broke sharp, but she was joined early by another horse from the outside. That filly applied pressure throughout the race,” Kenneally said. “Our filly kept digging, was tenacious, got it done, and galloped out well.”
Atomic City has come back with two works, including a bullet half-mile in 47 seconds on July 22.
“She worked super on Saturday at Churchill. She’s coming into this race perfectly,” said Kenneally, who has Luis Saez to ride.
Anakarina ships in from Churchill after finishing fifth behind Vodka With a Twist on May 17 and then winning a 4 1/2-furlong maiden race by three lengths on June 26. Anakarina, a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Hoist the Gold, was one of four next-out winners from that May 17 race, a group that included Vodka With a Twist, who won the Debutante Stakes.
Dallas Stewart, the trainer of Anakarina, said that in her debut Anakarina was stuck down on the inside of an extremely muddy track. Stewart only cut her back in distance for her second start because Anakarina was ready to run and the race had a big purse.
“She had a couple of good works at Churchill, then we got her up here and she worked exceptional here the other day,” Stewart said. “We got as much in her as we can. If she wins, she wins, if not, she should run well.”
The Queens M G upset the Schuylerville Stakes at 44-1 on opening day, which followed a last-place finish as the favorite in the Astoria Stakes on June 6. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is taking the strike-while-the-iron’s-hot approach with The Queens M G.
“She came out of that race well. We’re ahead now, let’s stay ahead rather than let them catch up,” Joseph said.
Whatintheliteral finished fifth to The Queens M G when both debuted at Keeneland in April. Two starts later, Whatintheliteral pulled a 13-1 upset in the Astoria. Trainer Jena Antonucci ran Whatintheliteral back in the Schuylerville, where she stumbled at the start, unseating jockey Javier Castellano.
Whatintheliteral will be ridden by John Velazquez on Sunday.
White Sands is a half-sister to Jackie’s Warrior, the only horse to win a Grade 1 stakes at Saratoga for three consecutive years. She has taken the back roads to get to Saratoga, and that’s if she runs. Trainer Wesley Ward said he is also considering the Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 10 for White Sands, a filly who has one eye.
White Sands, by Into Mischief, won her maiden by 9 1/2 lengths at Belterra Park on May 25. She came back to beat the boys by 13 3/4 lengths in the Prairie Golden Juvenile at Prairie Meadows on July 6.
Dare to Breeze won a maiden auction race here on July 13 for trainer Mark Casse.
Italian Soiree veered in at the break, but then rallied from third for a 5 1/4-length debut victory at Aqueduct on July 4.
Social Fortress was an 11-length debut winner at Delaware Park for trainer Jamie Ness.
Aguas de Cristal was a 4 1/2-length debut winner at Monmouth Park for Jorge Delgado.
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