Spelling Again, Cinnamon Spice target Keeneland's Madison

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Spelling Again and Cinnamon Spice, who both have ties to Oaklawn Park, could meet next month at Keeneland in the Grade 1, $300,000 Madison. The seven-furlong race for fillies and mares will be run April 9.

Spelling Again, the winner of last year’s Grade 2 Chilukki at Churchill Downs, is in training at Oaklawn with Brad Cox. Cinnamon Spice shipped from her Fair Grounds base to win a recent Oaklawn allowance for trainer Larry Jones.

Spelling Again last raced at Aqueduct, finishing third in the Grade 3 Go for Wand Handicap on Nov. 27. She is owned by Seajay Racing and is targeting an April return, said Cox.

“We’re probably looking at the Madison,” Cox said. “Our main short-term goal is the race on Derby Day at Churchill, the Humana Distaff. She loves Churchill, is a multiple stakes winner at Churchill. It’s going seven-eighths, and she likes one turn. That’s kind of the goal for her. It’s kind of crazy to prep for a Grade 1 in a Grade 1, but [the Madison] is the right distance, and she does like Keeneland.”

The Madison has been determined as the next race for Cinnamon Spice, said Jones, who trains the mare for Fox Hill Farm. She was up late to win a six-furlong allowance March 4 at Oaklawn in her first start since last April. It was the fourth win in a row for Cinnamon Spice.

Jones said the seven-furlong trip of the Madison is appealing for Cinnamon Spice because she won at the distance last year at Keeneland. In time, Jones said the goal is a move to two turns with Cinnamon Spice. She will be making her stakes debut in the Madison.