Page 92 - New Mexico Winter 2021

THE DOWNS AT ALBUQUERQUE
New Mexico State Fair TB Futurity (R)
by Michael Cusortelli • Photos by Coady Photography
Attila’s Storm
Forest Wildcat
Sweet Symmetry
Charlotte’s Drone
B. G.’s Drone
Charlotte’s Ego
BELLA DONA
Sent to post as the 8-5 favorite in a field of nine state-bred 2-year-olds, Bella Dona responded with a clear 3 1/2-length victory in the September 19, 6-furlong New Mexico State Fair Thoroughbred Futurity (R) at Albuquerque Downs.
Bella Dona stopped the timer in 1:09.87 while scoring her second career stakes win. Jimmy Ray Coates rode the bay daughter of Attila’s Storm for owners Robert M. Driggers, Del Rae Driggers, and Ben Lee Ivey, and trainer Simon Buechler.
Bella Dona was bred by Robert and Del Rae Driggers. The filly’s sire, Attila’s Storm, was
a graded stakes winning son of the Storm Cat stallion Forest Wildcat. Racing in five states from 2004-07, Attila’s Storm earned $534,983 from 18 starts, and his five wins included a
1 1/4-length victory in the 2007 Toboggan Handicap at Aqueduct. He also ran second in the 2005 Malibu Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita.
From 11 crops, Attila’s Storm has sired 24 black-type stakes winners and the earners of more than $14.6 million, including multiple stakes winners Waltzing Attila, Stormin The Jewels, Hush’s Storm, Thermal, and Go For A Stroll. The stallion died after suffering a heart attack following colic surgery on June 23, 2021.
Bella Dona is one of five winners from as many starters foaled by Charlotte’s Drone, an unplaced daughter of B.G.’s Drone. The filly
is a full sister to Tilla Cat, a three-time stakes winner in New Mexico from 2016-18, and she is a half sister to 2020 New Mexico Cup Derby Championship (R) winner Lariat.
Bella Dona’s second dam, the Tilt The Odds mare Charlotte’s Ego, won the 2001 New Mexico Distaff Handicap (R) for state-bred fillies and mares at SunRay Park. The filly traces back to her fourth dam, Fanny Falcon, a New Mexico-bred daughter of Crimson Falcon who won the 1981 New Mexican Stakes at The Downs at Santa Fe.
Bella Dona was coming off of a second-place finish in the second of two New Mexico State Fair Thoroughbred Futurity trials on August 28. The filly has won four of five races, and the $117,539 winner’s share of the $235,079 State Fair Futurity purse increased her bankroll to $195,068. Her record includes a wire-to-wire,
4 1/4-length victory as the 11-10 favorite in the 5 1/2-furlong, $125,000 Rio Grande Senorita Futurity (R) at Ruidoso Downs on August 15.
Action Junky finished second and was followed by Reads Pet Zenon, Wheres Brayden, I’ve Got It, Mark’s Warrior, Lonzo Who, Emmys Silver and Fabstraction. Qualifier Shelly d’Oro was listed by
the Equibase chart as a trainer scratch. Action Junky is a homebred son of the
Bernardini stallion Marking racing for Fincher Racing LLC and Randy Geiselman. A half- brother to the multiple stakes-placed Franchise Tagged, the bay colt earned the $47,016 runner-up share of the purse to boost his earn- ings to $53,436 from three outs.
Reads Pet Zenon finished 5 1/2 lengths behind Bella Dona at odds of 19-1. A dark bay or brown son of the Fusaichi Pegasus stallion Fusaichi Zenon (JPN), the gelding banked the $28,209 third-place share of the purse to bring his earnings to $33,351 from four starts for owners Glenn Berry and Linda Berry.
90 New Mexico Horse Breeder