We have previously explained the benefit of sending an unproven broodmare to an already-successful stallion, which is that it gives the breeder a better handle on the mare’s abilities as a producer. If a young mare is bred repeatedly to a similarly unproven stallion, and each of those stallions ends up being a failure — as most of them are likely to do — then a breeder has no idea whether her progeny’s lack of ability is due to her genes or those of the stallions. As such, we always counsel that a young mare get a couple of early tries with a proven sire, and that was one of the main reasons that Saucily will head to Hill ‘N’ Dale for a date with Army Mule in ‘25 after visiting a first-year sire for her maiden mating last season.
As you know if you’ve been reading these posts, Army Mule is a stallion we are recommending heavily this spring, and here’s a quick refresher on why: even though he only ran three times, he was undefeated by a combined 22-1/4 lengths, including a win in the G1 Carter with a 114 Beyer; and even though he was the son of a regional stallion, his looks and stride were good for an $825,000 price tag as a 2YO in-training; and even though he started at the low end of the stud fee spectrum in Kentucky when made a $10,000 proposition his first year at stud (albeit at a farm which has made a regular habit of identifying brilliant but very lightly-raced prospects who succeed at stud), his progeny came out firing as 2YOs in 2022 and he wound up 4th on the Freshman Sire List behind Bolt d’Oro, Good Magic and Justify, who had all started at much higher fees and had at least a third more foals than Army Mule. Army Mule’s total of five black-type winners was just one less than the six that each of those top three freshman sires had, and he had seven additional black-type horses to his credit as well.
Since then, Army Mule has added G2 winner Danse Macabre and G1 winner One In Vermillion to his tally, as well as 2024 G2 winner Federal Judge, and 2025 Kentucky Derby prep winner California Burrito. He is now up to 14 black-type winners from 142 runners (9.3%), with nine additional black-type horses (15.3%). And his AEI to CI ratio is an excellent (1.36/1.10). That CI also indicates that what Army Mule has achieved so far has been done without much help at all from his mates, which is not surprising for a stallion starting at the fee he did in Kentucky.
Army Mule had a somewhat quiet 2024 (though Federal Judge was a brilliant winner of the G2 Phoenix and among the favorites for the G1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, while classic-placed Stanley House hit the board in a handful of graded stakes last year, and his 3YO son California Burrito just recently triumphed in the John Battaglia on the Derby trail), but that wasn’t totally unexpected with his smallest crop of 2YOs coming to the races in ‘24. He did cover a third more mares in 2022 (115) than he did in 2021 (83), once people had seen his first yearlings and his first juveniles at the breeze-up sales, and that crop will be racing as juveniles in 2025.
His 2023 book was almost twice as big again (at 199) after that first crop had run in 2022, despite a fee raise to $12,500 (which went even higher towards the end of the breeding season as his book filled up). He covered 160 mares in 2024 at an advertised fee of $25,000 following the graded scores by One In Vermillion and Danse Macabre.
With a slight drop to $20,000 for 2025, knowing what Army Mule has already done and what he has every right to do in the next few years, he looks like easily the best value in Kentucky this year. The commercial market has still been kind to him despite his quiet year (his yearlings averaged $74,572 in ‘24 for 44 sold; in ‘23 it was $75,765 for 40 sold), and it will continue to embrace him as his better-bred yearlings come through starting in 2025.
Physically, Army Mule is a stout, strongly-made and correct horse with all the substance that you’d want and just enough leg, and that’s another reason that he’ll be a great choice for the slightly petite Saucily.
So far, Army Mule has a pair of winners from four runners out of Curlin mares like Saucily, but he’s done even better with mares carrying more A.P. Indy blood (Army Mule being a grandson of that HOTY and perennial leading sire, as is Saucily’s broodmare sire, Tapit).
And Saucily’s female family has done very well with the Seattle Slew/A.P. Indy sire-line: her dam is a half-sister to the multiple black-type winner Dancing Raven, by Seattle Slew’s son Tomahawk, while the black-type winner Crescentcitypretty, by A.P. Indy’s son Bernardini, also appears under Saucily’s 2nd dam, and black-type winner Soros, by A.P. Indy’s son Commissioner, appears under her 3rd dam.
So there are several additional reasons by the proven value sire Army Mule will make an excellent fit for Saucily this spring!