Page 96 - New Mexico Winter 2021

ZIA PARK
Story by Michael Cusortelli • Photos by Coady Photography
New Mexico Cup Lassie Champ. (R)
Attila’s Storm
Forest Wildcat
Sweet Symmetry
Charlotte’s Drone
B. G.’s Drone
Charlotte’s Ego
BELLA DONA
The 1-10 favorite in a field of eight state- bred 2-year-old fillies, Bella Dona led at every call en route to a dominating 5 1/4-length vic- tory in the October 31, $100,000 New Mexico Cup Lassie Championship (R) at Zia Park.
Bella Dona set fractions of :22.25 and :45.47 before reaching the wire in 1:11.54 for 6 furlongs. Luis Fuentes rode the bay Attila’s Storm filly 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, and she was coming off of a 3 1/2-length win as the 8-5 favorite in the 6-fur- long, $235,000 New Mexico State Fair Futurity (R) at Albuquerque Downs on September 16. The filly is one of 24 black-type stakes winners sired by Attila’s Storm, a graded stakes winning son of the Storm Cat stallion Forest Wildcat.
Campaigned in five states from 2004-07, including New York and California, Attila’s Storm banked $534,983 from 18 races, and his five wins included the 2005 Fall Highweight Handicap and 2007 Toboggan Handicap (G3), both at Aqueduct. The stallion has sired the earners from $14.6 million from 11 crops, 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 also one of five winners from as many starters foaled by Charlotte’s Drone, an unplaced 15-year-old daughter of the Full Choke stallion B.G.’s Drone. Bella Dona is
a full sister to Tilla Cat, a three-time stakes winner in New Mexico from 2016-18. Her half-sister, Lariat, won last year’s New Mexico Cup Derby Championship (R) at Zia Park.
Bella Dona’s second dam, the Tilt The
Odds mare Charlotte’s Ego, won the 2001 New Mexico Distaff Handicap (R) for state-bred fil- lies and mares at SunRay Park. The filly traces back to her fourth dam, Fanny Falcon, a New Mexico-bred daughter of the Crimson Satan stallion Crimson Falcon who won the 1981 New Mexican Stakes at The Downs at Santa Fe.
Bella Dona’s three career stakes wins include a wire-to-wire, 4 1/4-length victory
in the 5 1/2-furlong, $125,000 Rio Grande Senorita Futurity (R) at Ruidoso Downs on August 15. All told, the filly has five of six outs, and the $60,000 winner’s share of the New Mexico Cup Lassie Championship purse bumped her earnings to $255,068.
Sunny Jewel finished second and was followed by Running For Grace, Foxy Red,
Indian Excellence, Bernice Who, Emmys Silver and Hear Me Roar.
A chestnut daughter of the Monarchos stallion Rapper S S, Sunny Jewel made her debut with a 4 3/4-length victory in a 5-fur- long, $20,000 maiden-special-weight dash for New Mexico-bred 2-year-old fillies at Ruidoso Downs on August 15. The filly banked $20,000 to bring her earnings to $32,000 from two starts for her owner, Bennie A. Vanecek.
Running For Grace is a homebred gray or roan daughter of the Storm Cat stallion Stellar Rain. The filly earned $10,000 to push her bank- roll to $23,068 from three races for her owners, Bryan McDonald and Casey T. Lambert.
94 New Mexico Horse Breeder