Bella Dona (pictured), a homebred 4-year-old daughter of Attila’s Storm and the lone filly in a field of 12 New Mexico-bred Thoroughbreds, is the morning-line favorite for Sunday’s 5 1/2-furlong, $100,000 Mt. Cristo Rey Handicap (R) at Sunland Park.
Trained by Simon Buechler for owners Robert M. Driggers, Del Rae Driggers, and Ben Lee Ivey, Bella Dona will be making her first start since October 30, when she scored a wire-to-wire, 3 1/4-length victory in the 6-furlong, $125,000 New Mexico Cup Oaks Championship (R) for state-bred 3-year-old fillies at Zia Park. All told, the filly has won 12 of 13 races — including 10 stakes — and she has earned $750,068.
Bella Dona drew post 11 and will be ridden by Luis Fuentes.
The complete lineup, in post position order including jockey and weight assignments and morning-line odds:
More Firewater (Jose Miguel Vazquez, 117), 20-1
Awesome Storm (Ken Tohill, 116), 20-1
Evacuee (Felipe Valdez, 119), 15-1
Risky Revenge (Gabriel Arredondo, 118), 8-1
Lonzo Who (Alejandro Medellin, 120), 5-1
No Pasa Nada (Jorge Carreno, 121), 6-1
Delbert Too (Enrique Gomez, 120), 10-1
Hollywood Henry (Miguel Fuentes Jr., 123), 10-1
Massive Roar (Alfredo Juarez Jr., 120), 10-1
Cerveza (Francisco Amparan, 119), 20-1
Bella Dona (Luis Fuentes, 123), 3-2
Bye Bye Matty P (Christian Ramos, 120), 15-1