Donna Blini

Donna Blini(foaled 27 March 2003) is a BritishThoroughbredracehorse andbroodmare. She was one of the best juvenile fillies of her generation in Britain in 2005 when she won three of her four races including theCherry Hinton Stakesand theCheveley Park Stakes. In the following year she was mainly campaigned in sprint races and won one minor race from seven starts. She was retired from racing having won four of her eleven races and exported to become a broodmare in Japan. She made an immediate impact as a dam of winners, producing the outstanding racemareGentildonna.
Donna Blini is a chestnut mare with a whiteblazeand three whitesocksbred by James Thom & Sons. Her sire Bertolini was a sprinter who won theJuly Stakesand theEuropean Free Handicapas well as finishing second in theMiddle Park Stakes,Dubai Golden Shaheen,Haydock Sprint CupandNunthorpe Stakes.As a breeding stallion, his other progeny included Moorhouse Lad (King George Stakes) and Prime Defender (Duke of York Stakes).Donna Blini's dam, Cal Norma's Lady showed some ability as a racehorse, winning three races as a two-year-old in 1990.She was descended from Fair Astronomer who finished second in the1000 Guineasand was the ancestor of Malhub (Golden Jubilee Stakes) andDeputy Commander.
As ayearling, the filly was consigned to theDoncastersales in September 2004 and was bought for 20,000guineasby the bloodstock agents McKeever St Lawrence.She entered the ownership of Jayne Cunningham and was sent into training with Brian Meehan at the Newlands Stable inUpper LambourninBerkshire.
Donna Blini made her racecourse debut in a fivefurlongmaiden race atNewmarket Racecourseon 7 May in which she was ridden byFrankie Dettorishe started at odds of4/1in a nine-runner field. After racing in second place she took the lead approaching the final furlong and won by one and a quarterlengthsfrom the favourite Aliceinwonderland with Dettori easing her down in the final strides.On 1 June, ridden byJimmy Fortune, she started favourite for the ListedHilary Needler TrophyatBeverley Racecoursebut was beaten a length into second by the 16/1 outsider Clare Hills.
Despite her defeat at Beverley, the filly was moved up in class for theGroup TwoCherry Hinton Stakes at Newmarket on 5 July. TheNational Stakeswinner Salut d'Amour started favourite ahead ofNannina,Spinning Queenand Queen of Fire, with Donna Blini fifth in the betting on 12/1. Ridden for the first time byMick Kinaneshe led from the start and stayed on well to beat Salut d'Amour by a neck, with Spinning Queen a neck away in third.After the race Meehan said "Whatever happens now, she's already proved herself to be a bargain... Donna's a lovely filly who is a little bit rangy, so we thought we would give her a bit of time and give Royal Ascot a miss. The ground was against her when she finished second at Beverley last time and Jimmy (Fortune) came back and said she wouldn't have been beaten if the ground had been better. She's a tough thing, a real good galloper. She'll go on from this and she definitely wants seven furlongs already".
After a break of twelve weeks, Donna Blini returned for the Group One Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket in which she was again partnered by Kinane and started at odds of 12/1 in a ten-runner field. Kinane had sustained a double fracture of the wrist in August and was returning to the saddle after undergoing multiple therapy sessions in ahyperbaric chamber.The undefeated Flashy Wings started favourite after wins in theQueen Mary StakesandLowther Stakeswhilst the other runners included Nidhaal (Dick Poole Fillies' Stakes), Wake Up Maggie (winner of a valuable sales race in Ireland) and Modeeroch (Tyros Stakes). Donna Blini tracked the 100/1 outsider Dizzy Dreamer before taking the lead approaching the final furlong. She was driven out in the closing stages to win by a neck from Wake Up Maggie with Flashy Wings a neck away in third.After the race Kinane said "Brian gave Donna Blini a break after I won on her in July and when I saw her today she looked marvellous and had really blossomed. We hadn't gone awfully quick, but when I asked her to quicken I knew she would be hard to peg back and she stayed on really well".Meehan commented "She's a lovely filly. She proved it in the Cherry Hinton. We debated going to the Lowther Stakes and all sorts of things, theMoyglareand even the Doncaster sales race with all that money, but we felt it was best to wait and give her time. She's a tough, hardy filly and she galloped all the way to the line. Maybe the break she had made her idle a bit going to the line. We are very pleased with her."
In 2006, Meehan moved his horses to Manton inWiltshire. On her three-year-old debut Donna Blini started a 16/1 outsider in the193rd running of the 1000 Guineasat Newmarket on 7 May. She was among the leaders of the group that raced up the centre of the wide Rowley Mile course but faded quickly in the final quarter mile and finished last of the thirteen runners behindSpeciosa. She reappeared in theCoronation StakesatRoyal Ascotin June and finished thirteenth of the fifteen runners behind Nannina.
Donna Blini was dropped in class and distance for the Group ThreeSummer Stakesover six furlongs atYork Racecourseon 14 July and finished second to La Chunga having led until the final furlong. A week later she was dropped to five furlongs for a minor race at Newmarket and started 11/4 second favourite behind the five-year-old Majestic Missile whose wins included theCornwallis Stakesand theScarbrough Stakes. Ridden by Dettori, she was amongst the leaders from the start and won by three quarters of a length from Majestic Missile withThe Trader(Prix du Gros Chêne) in third.Dettori was again in the saddle when the filly contested the Group ThreeKing George StakesatGoodwood Racecourseon 3 August and finished sixth of the eighteen runners behind the five-year-old mareLa Cucaracha.
In September Donna Blini made two further appearances but failed to recover her best form. She finished sixth behind Dixie Belle in theWorld TrophyatNewburyand eleventh of thirteen behind Fantasy Believer in the ListedRous Stakesat Newmarket.
At the end of her racing career, Donna Blini was offered for sale atTattersallsin November 2005 and was bought for 500,000 guineas byKatsumi Yoshida[ja].She was exported to become a broodmare at theNorthern Farmin Japan, where she has produced fourteen foals and nine winners: