Page 105 - NMHBA_Winter2022

New Mexico Classic Cup Oaks Champ. (R)
Bella Dona, a bay daughter of Attila’s Storm racing for Robert M. Driggers, Del Rae Driggers and Ben Lee Ivey, extended her win streak to nine with her 3 1/4-length score in the October 30, $122,500 New Mexico Classic Cup Oaks Championship (R) for state-bred sophomore fillies at Zia Park.
Ridden by Luis Fuentes for trainer Simon Buechler, Bella Dona covered 6 furlongs in 1:09.79. The filly earned $75,000 from her 10th career stakes victory.
Bella Dona was shortening in distance
off of her 1 1/4-length win in the September 17, 6 1/2-furlong Petticoat Stakes (R) for New Mexico-bred sophomore fillies at Albuquerque Downs. The filly was bred
by Robert and Del Rae Driggers, and she
is one of 27 stakes winners from 12 crops sired by the Attila’s Storm, a Kentucky-
bred son of the Storm Cat stallion Forest Wildcat. Campaigned from 2004-07, Attila’s Storm won two stakes -- including the 2007 Toboggan Handicap (G3) at Aqueduct -- and he banked $534,983 from 18 starts.
From 266 starters, Attila’s Storm has
sired the earners of more than $17.2 million, including multiple stakes winners Waltzing Attila, Stormin The Jewels, Diabolical Storm, Storm Leader and Flight Song. The stallion sustained a heart attack following colic surgery and died on June 23, 2021.
Bella Dona is out of Charlotte’s Drone, an unplaced New Mexico-bred daughter of B.G.’s Drone. Charlotte’s Drone has produced five winners from five starters, including Tilla Cat, a full sister to Bella Dona who won three stakes in New Mexico from 2016-18, and No Pasa Nada, a full brother to Bella Dona who won this year’s Jack Cole Stakes (R) at SunRay Park and Casey Darnell Stakes (R) at Albuquerque Downs.
Bella Dona is also a half-sister to Lariat, a son of Southwestern Heat who won the 2020 New Mexico Cup Derby Championship (R). The filly’s second dam, the New Mexico-bred Tilt The Odds mare Charlotte’s Ego, won the 2001 New Mexico Distaff Handicap (R) at SunRay Park.
Bella Dona traces back to her fourth dam, Fanny Falcon, a New Mexico-bred daughter of the Crimson Satan stallion Crimson Falcon. The winner of the 1981 New Mexican Stakes at Santa Fe Downs, Fanny Falcon produced four winners from six starters, including Stryker Ego, a son of Bold Ego who won the 1993 Ruidoso Horse Sale Futurity (R) at Sunland Park.
Bella Dona has won 12 of 13 races, including four of five at the 6-furlong trip, and she has earned $750,068 while competing exclusively
in New Mexico. The filly ended her 2-year-old season with a wire-to-wire, 5 1/4-length victory in the 6-furlong, $100,000 New Mexico Classics Lassie Championship (R), one of her two wins
at Zia Park. Bella Dona’s current win streak
includes a four-length victory in the January 16, $100,000 La Senora Stakes (R) at Sunland Park, a 3 3/4-length win in the March 27, $250,000 New Mexico Breeders’ Oaks (R) at Sunland Park and
a one-length score in the August 27, $100,000 Carlos Salazar Stakes (R) at Albuquerque Downs.
Desert Spirit ran second and was followed by Right For You, Miss Ability and Soundofme Notcallin.
Desert Spirit banked the $25,000 runner-up share of the purse for her owner, Dale F. Taylor Racing LLC. The chestnut daughter of the Desert God stallion Proceed has won two of 11 races and has earned $141,380.
Right For You races for George W. Childs. A gray or roan Right Rigger filly, Right For You has won two of 14 starts and has banked $95,030.
Bella Dona’s winning connections include owners Robert and DelRae Driggers and Ben Lee Ivey, trainer Simon Buechler and jockey Luis Fuentes.
Photos by Coady Photography
ZIA PARK
Attila’s Storm
Forest Wildcat
Sweet Symmetry
Charlott’s Drone
B. G.’s Drone
Charlotte’s Ego
BELLA DONA
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