SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Brad Cox uses words like “confusing” and “frustrating” to describe his Saratoga meet at which, through five weeks, he’s won just four races from 28 starters. “It’s been a little bit of a head-scratcher, but we still got time to get it turned around,” Cox said. Cox will have some excellent chances in upcoming stakes, beginning Saturday with Good Cheer and Margie’s Intention in the Grade 1 Alabama for 3-year-old fillies. Good Cheer looks to avenge her first career defeat when finishing fifth in the Grade 1 Acorn when she meets Acorn winner La Cara and Nitrogen in the 1 1/4-mile test for 3-year-old fillies. The following week, Cox will have two solid chances in both the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens and the Grade 1 Forego, sprint races for 3-year-olds and older horses, respectively. Cox plans to start both Verifire and Patch Adams in the Jerkens and Bishops Bay and Most Wanted in the Forego. On Aug. 9, Cox worked both Verifire, undefeated in three starts, and Patch Adams, unraced since his June 7 win in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens, out of the gate at Churchill Downs. They were credited with a five-furlong time of 1:00.80. “Verifire, I felt like before he made his debut, he worked decent out of the gate and he might be a little better out of the gate than the pole, and he was,” Cox said. “Patch Adams has not run since Belmont week. Sometimes he’s not the greatest gate horse . . . so I wanted to make sure he didn’t forget how to come out of the gate.” :: Get exclusive Saratoga Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day.  Both horses were scheduled to work again Saturday at Churchill, most likely not out of the gate, before shipping to New York. Bishops Bay and Most Wanted are both lacking a Grade 1 win on their résumé. Bishops Bay, a son of Uncle Mo, has won four straight including the Grade 3 Westchester, a one-turn mile at Aqueduct in May. He came out of that to win the Grade 3 Salvator Mile, a two-turn mile race at Monmouth Park by five lengths. “I thought his race at a one-turn mile was very impressive,” Cox said. “We targeted this race for a while. We used the race at Monmouth as a gap in the calendar, and it worked out well.” Most Wanted, the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby winner last September, finished second in three consecutive stakes – including to Fierceness in the Grade 2 Alysheba in early May – to begin his year before winning an allowance race June 1 at Churchill. “We asked him to shorten up, and he ran a great race against Fierceness Derby week,” Cox said. “We’re trying to put both horses in the best position to win a Grade 1. Both will be stallions, and the Grade 1 propels them forward to being worth more and being not a regional sire but a Lexington one.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.