Cadenza brings graded form to Listed Galway

Stonestreet Stables’ dual graded stakes-placed Cadenza will look for her second career stakes win in Saturday’s Listed $200,000 Galway, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for sophomore fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox, the daughter of Charlatan landed third in a pair of local Grade 3 sprints this summer over the same distance, finishing 3 1/4 lengths back of Slay the Day in the Soaring Softly on June 7 and 7 1/4 lengths behind Grade 1-winner Cy Fair in the Coronation Cup on July 18. She looks for her first win since a half-length score over Kingsolver in the six-furlong Take the A Train in May at Belmont at the Big A.

“She’s doing really good and looks amazing,” Cox said. “She’s developed physically throughout the summer and has had a couple good runs here knocking on the door. She was able to get the job done there at Aqueduct earlier in the spring, and she’s been good.”

Cadenza will look to get back on firm turf after contesting the Coronation Cup over yielding footing. There, she sat one length off the pace in third and moved up to second in the middle stages, but flattened out under returning rider Manny Franco [post 5].

The consistent chestnut has hit the board in 7-of-8 lifetime starts, including an additional stakes placing when second on synthetic in the Serena’s Song in March at Turfway Park. She has made each of her last three efforts with stalk-and-pounce tactics, which Cox said is ideal.

“I think that’s the trip she needs. With a good trip and all that, she’ll be competitive,” Cox said. “The way she looks is giving us the confidence to keep trying the stakes.”

A $385,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Cadenza is out of the stakes-placed Kitten’s Joy mare Maddie’s Odyssey, who also produced dual graded stakes-winner Sneaking Out, Grade 3-winner Grecian Fire, stakes-winners Been Studying Her and Smuggler’s Run and stakes-placed Personal Pursuit.

Trainer Joe Sharp has entered a pair of live contenders that each posted strong last-out efforts over course and distance, represented by Erich R. Brehm, Jr.’s Oscar’s Encore [post 3, Jose Ortiz] and Jordan Wycoff’s Queen Juno [post 4, Kendrick Carmouche].

Oscar’s Encore enters from a tidy first-level allowance victory against elders on July 3, where she attended the pace and dug in gamely to inch clear to the one-length victory in a final time of 1:01.75. The effort was her first off a nine-month respite, and saw her cut back from a distant off-the-board finish in the restricted 1 1/16-mile Cup and Saucer in October at Woodbine Racetrack. She is a perfect 2-for-2 at the Spa, her other effort a debut graduation over this distance last August.

The talented chestnut has worked back four times over the Spa’s Oklahoma turf training track, including on August 9 in company with Grade 3-placed Miwa [48.25], covering a half-mile in 48 seconds flat.

“We’ve been really impressed with her and just gave her some time back since that last race and the timing of this is good,” Sharp said. “It gives us six weeks and she had a nice work [on August 9] – I worked her myself and we worked her with Miwa. That’s a nice filly, and they worked well, so we’re looking forward to this weekend.”

Oscar’s Encore is out of the winning Old Forester mare Weekend in Malibu, a half-sister to dual graded stakes-placed Hemp Hemp Hurray.

Queen Juno, a bay daughter of Yaupon, made her first five starts for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse before being purchased by Wycoff for $80,000 from this year's Fasig-Tipton June Digital Sale. She has since made one outing for Sharp, landing a stalking second to Heat Missile after holding a brief lead at the stretch call in an August 1 first-level allowance tilt.

“We were very pleased with it,” Sharp said of the effort. “Usually, two weeks isn’t really my thing with wheeling them back, but with a filly with her pedigree, an opportunity to get some black type is huge for her. She’s been pretty genuine.”

Out of the winning Dehere mare Dherewego, Queen Juno is a half-sister to Whichwaze, who finished second in the Listed P.G. Johnson on the turf here in 2022.

James Chicklo’s Florida homebred Gerrards Cross [post 1, Dylan Davis] is 2-for-3 sprinting on turf, including a last-out win in the 5 1/2-furlong Monmouth County on July 5 at Monmouth Park for trainer Kathleen O’Connell.

The Midshipman chestnut graduated on debut over the Gulfstream Park main track last June, and made a successful turf bow in the five-furlong Colleen at Monmouth ahead of a more than four-month respite that ended with a distant off-the-board finish back on dirt in the Sandpiper in December at Tampa Bay Downs. She had one more try over dirt in January when off-the-board in the Gasparilla there, and showed marked improvement on the lawn with a neck second to Hark Theangelssing in the Stormy Blues going the Galway distance in June at Laurel Park en route to the Monmouth County.

Gerrards Cross, who has made her race preparations at Monmouth Park, is out of the Concerto mare Spanish Concert, a dirt stakes-winner for these connections that also produced multiple stakes-placed Dream Concert.

Arindel’s local dirt Grade 3-winning homebred Mythical [post 8, Edgard Zayas] makes her turf debut for trainer Jorge Delgado following a flat eighth in the Grade 3 Victory Ride sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs on July 10 here. The bay daughter of St. Patrick’s Day won the Spa’s Grade 3 Adirondack on dirt last year as part of a 5-for-6 juvenile campaign that included two additional restricted stakes wins in Florida. She holds a field-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure earned for a two-length win in the six-furlong Any Limit in March at Gulfstream.

Completing the field are last-out stakes-winner Triskelion [post 7, Luis Saez] for trainer Rusty Arnold; and a stakes-debuting pair of contenders in Mauna Loa [post 6, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] for trainer Mark Casse and Epic Lady Luck [post 2, Javier Castellano] for conditioner George Weaver. 

L'Eclair has been entered for the main track only.

The Galway is slated as Race 10 on Saturday’s 12-race card, which features the Grade 1, $750,000 Christophe Clement Turf – a “Win and You’re In” for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf – in Race 9. First post is 12:30 p.m. Eastern. 

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