Saratoga Maidens, Presented By Keeneland: Cadenza Rolls Home In Grass Debut For Cox Barn

[Wandering Eyes]

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The photo had just been taken in the winner's circle after the second race at Saratoga Race Course Thursday afternoon and before Cadenza (Charlatan) even left, Blake Cox was on the phone.

It was his dad, Brad Cox, checking in from Kentucky. Brad Cox is the trainer of record for the stable, but it's 24-year-old son Blake, his top assistant, who runs the show in Saratoga.

“I told him she ran good,” Blake Cox said after walking out of the winner's circle and making his way to the racing office. “He told me, 'good job.' That was it.”

Cadenza, owned by Stonestreet Stables, was making her second career start in the $100,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies. Sent off as the 4-5 favorite in the field of 10 going 5 1/2 furlongs on the Mellon Turf Course, Cadenza rallied to win the race by three quarters of a length.

She began her career at Saratoga on Aug. 2 and set the pace before weakening and finishing fifth as the favorite in a six-furlong maiden special weight on the dirt.

“We liked her a lot when we brought her up for the debut,” Blake Cox said. “She ran well, showed speed, got tired but got a lot out of it.”

Following the debut, Cadenza had just one work, a four-furlong dirt move in :48.16 (11/48) on Aug. 21.

That was by design.

Cadenza | Sarah Andrew

“She is not a very big filly,” Blake Cox said. “We wanted to give her a little more time. She worked amazing, and this grass race came out and it worked out.”

Like she did in her first race, Cadenza and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.–who was also aboard for the debut–showed speed. She then dropped back but was never worse than third. Cadenza found her best stride in the final eighth of a mile and, under confident handling by Ortiz, went onto the victory.

Blake Cox could not have predicted Cadenza would take to the grass the first time she saw it, but there were hints. She is out of the Kitten's Joy (El Prado) mare Maddie's Odyssey.

“We took a shot, and it worked,” Blake Cox said. “Irad said he thought she might be able to go farther. She had trained well, stayed on well.”

Cadenza was timed in 1:02.85 and she paid $3.90, $2.80 and $2.30. Bred in Kentucky by KMN Racing, she was a $385,000 purchase at the 2024 Keeneland September Sale.

Since 2018, Blake Cox has been working for his farther. He has taken on the huge responsibility of overseeing the barn at Saratoga. Brad Cox does spend time at the Spa during the summer, but he also is back home in Kentucky overseeing the operation there.

“I know what he expects out of me,” Blake Cox said. “We work well together, and he is a great mentor and a great person to look up to. This is a huge responsibility with expensive horses that he might see every other week. There is a lot of pressure, but it is good pressure. The guys working here know what to do.”

Then, Blake Cox's phone rang again. He looked down, looked back up and smiled.

“It's him again,” he said.

2nd-Saratoga, $100,000, Msw, 8-28, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:02.85, fm, 3/4 length.
CADENZA (f, 2, Charlatan–Maddie's Odyssey {SP, $142,113}, by Kitten's Joy), who debuted at the Spa Aug. 2 and finished fifth, was well-supported as the favorite at 95 cents on the dollar here. The chestnut was up on the pace from the bell as a long shot showed the way up the backstretch. The 2-year-old dropped a spot heading into the far turn, but at the top of the lane she began to get into gear. Finding her rhythm down the lane, Cadenza rolled and was up to graduate by 3/4 length over Vajra (Vekoma). The winner is a half-sister to Grecian Fire (Unusual Heat), GSW, $418,453, Smuggler's Run (Straight Fire), SW, $283,310, Been Studying Her (Fast Anna), MSW, $305,602, Personal Pursuit (Tapit), SP, $180,409 and Sneaking Out (Indian Evening), MGSW, $531,441. Maddie's Odyssey produced a weanling colt by Olympiad earlier this year and was bred to Arabian Knight for next term. Cadenza is his third winner for her first-crop sire (by Speightstown). Sales History: $385,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $59,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-KMN Racing, LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox.

Cadenza switches to the and graduates in R2 at Saratoga! @bradcoxracing trains and @iradortiz was in the saddle. pic.twitter.com/3vzQIGMtEu

— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) August 28, 2025

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