Army Mule

Hill 'n' Dale Farms announced its 2023 stallion roster and fees, with Horse of the Year and leading sire Curlin (Smart Strike) heading the group at $225,000. The operation's leading stallion stood for $175,000 in 2022. Ghostzapper (Awesome Again) remains unchanged at $75,000. Rounding out the farm's roster are Army Mule - $12,500; Charlatan - $50,000; Kantharos - $20,000, Lost Treasure - $3,500; Maclean's Music - $50,000; Midnight Lute - $12,500; Mucho Macho Man - $7,500; Violence - $40,000; and World of Trouble - $5,000. Champion Juvenile Good Magic (Curlin)...

9th-Belmont The Big A, $77,000, (S), Msw, 9-29, 2yo, 6f, 1:13.75, ft, 3/4 length. SHADOW DRAGON (c, 2, Army Mule--Fire Assay {GSP, $127,946}, by Medaglia d'Oro), dispatched at a tepid 7-1 in his first start since bringing $375,000 at OBSAPR off a :21 1/5 breeze, was forced towards the rail at the break and quickly found himself trailing the field with only one rival beat. Kept just off the rail into the far turn, he angled out at the top of the stretch and began picking off horses under a...

The topper of Wednesday's opening session of Book 5 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale came in the last few hips as Hip 3181, a son of Violence, summoned $220,000 from James Zahler. The bay was picked up by Bolter Bloodstock for $20,000 and consigned by Peter O'Callaghan's Woods Edge Farm. A colt by Army Mule brought the second-highest price of $200,000 from Manfred and Penny Conrad, the owners of champion female sprinter Shamrock Rose (First Dude). Hip 3152 was consigned by Denali stud on behalf of Ontario breeder Yvonne...

6th-Del Mar, $82,500, Msw, 9-10, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:01.86, ft, 1 1/4 lengths. SPEED BOAT BEACH (c, 2, Bayern--Sophia Mia, by Pioneerof the Nile) stepped out in sharp fashion on unveiling here, taking a field of 10 gate to wire and establishing a new track record of 1:01.86 in the process as the 2-1 second choice behind even-money Hejazi (Bernardini). The latter was the $3.55 million EASMAY topper this season, purchased by Zedan Racing. The $700,000 FTKOCT firster Fort Bragg (Tapit) picked up the final place spot, and completed Bob...

Hot Little Thing, coming off a seven-length maiden romp at Horseshoe Indianapolis, became the first stakes winner for her freshman sire Army Mule (Friesan Fire) with a dominant victory in the Back Home Again S. at the Indiana oval Wednesday. The even-money favorite zipped out to the early lead and was in control through fractions of :23.18 and :46.47. She skipped effortlessly clear down the lane and cruised home under wraps a much-the-best winner. Hot Little Thing contested the pace before coming up 3/4-lengths short when second in her off-turf...

6th-Ellis, $60,000, Msw, 8-12, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:04.30, ft, 7 3/4 lengths. STUD LOVIN (c, 2, Nyquist--Livin Lovin {GSW-USA, GSP-Can, $162,153}, by Birdstone) never gave his backers and connections a moment's doubt here, debuting with a stylish 7 3/4-length victory as the 5-2 second choice. Leading from the two path right from the jump, Stud Lovin came into the stretch off the back of a :46.09 half and cruised home from there. Meraj (Army Mule) out kicked a rival home for second. Last Cookie (Bernardini), Frosted's half-brother and 'Insights' runner,...

A juvenile sales season which set records at each stop along the way, comes to a close with the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age, which begins its three-day run Tuesday morning in Ocala. OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski expects demand for 2-year-olds to remain high at the June sale. "I think there is still demand for horses," Wojciechowski said. "I think we saw that certainly in April [at the OBS Spring sale]. We heard from a lot of people who still...

A filly from the first crop of Grade I winner Army Mule (hip 437) zipped a quarter-mile in :20 2/5--fastest of the week so far--during the third session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-Year-Olds Sale under-tack show Wednesday in Central Florida. Consigned by Larry Mejias's appropriately named Fast Horses, the gray filly is out of the unraced Super Holiday (Super Saver) and from the family of graded winner Double Honor. "I am really happy with that work," Mejias said. "That filly had been working really fast at the...

Though the first three installments of this series have featured the stallions with most to prove, we know that they will collectively be dominating commercial traffic in the new covering season. But today we come to the group that has just completed that first, critical market cycle--and finally stands on the brink of testing their stock where it really counts. Or should count, anyway. The sad reality is that they have already exhausted their usefulness to a lot of breeders, many of whom will meanwhile have ridden the carousel through...

With Wednesday's Keeneland September Book 5 opener winding down, Maddie Matt Miller, agent, went to a session-topping $250,000 to secure a filly from the first crop of Army Mule. Consigned by Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency, agent, as Hip 3158, the chestnut is out of six-time winner Henny's Hurricane (Henny Hughes), a daughter of GSW Amarillo (Crafty Prospector). Hip 3158 is a half-sister to Amynta (Atreides), a multiple stakes winner in Panama. She was bred in Kentucky by Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings. The Hill 'n' Dale stallion, standing for...

The first yearlings from GISW Army Mule (Friesan Fire-Crafty Toast, by Crafty Prospector) may have surprised a few people when they proved to be a hot commodity at the first three major yearling sales of the year. Army Mule began his stud career in 2019 at Hill 'n' Dale Farms with a modest $10,000 stud fee after just three career starts, but at this year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, two representatives from his first book of mares brought $400,000-first a colt out of stakes winner Made Me Shiver (Maclean's Music) and...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--The Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale, which had a string of record-setting renewals interrupted only by its cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic last summer, got back on track with a strong opening session at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion Sunday evening. A total of 62 yearlings sold Sunday night for a gross of $6,497,500. The average was $104,798 and the median was $80,000. "It was an outstanding opening night to the 2021 New York-bred sale," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "I was thrilled to have the average...