September 2025:
Daytona Stable is thrilled to have purchased Hip 2104, a gorgeous daughter of Army Mule at the 2025 Keeneland September yearling sale. Bob, our trainer Tom Drury and I all loved this filly and had her as one of our top selections of the entire auction. Being by the up and coming standout sire Army Mule, we thought she would sell for six figures which is above what we budget for yearling fillies. Daytona Stable’s model is to look for the ‘hidden gem’ fillies that sell for $65k or less. Although we always buy fillies with the hope of having a stakes quality filly, buying fillies at or below $65k allows them to start their careers running in the MSW Auction Condition. These races are limited to horses that sold or RNA’d (Reserve Not Attained) in their most recent auction and this creates a favorable situation as you are not competing against more expensive or homebred fillies.
Pretty Patriotic is by breakout sire Army Mule who has a $20k stud fee. His offspring are an impressive 7.7% stakes winners, which is significantly higher than all but a few stallions nationwide.
Army Mule’s Bloodhorse stallion page:
https://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-register/stallions/170575/army-mule
She is the a carbon copy of her sire: Army Mule top photo & Pretty Patriotic bottom photo.
Here is her Pedigree Page from the sale:
Pretty Patriotic is out of the unraced Maclean’s Music mare, Principessa Mia, and this is her first foal. Although she has no older siblings, you can see by her pedigree, there is a lot to be excited about. Both sides of her pedigree are loaded with strong producers: A.P Indy, Crafty Prospector, Distorted Humor, and Pulpit. She is bred on an identical cross (3×4 to A.P Indy) like One In Vermillion, who is one of Army Mules’ top horses that is a G1 winner and earner of $653,840. She is bred on a similar cross to top horses like: Art Collector ($4,231,290), Sandman ($1,364,286), and Constitution ($1,031,596).
We are equally excited about her physical. Checkout her sales video below.
Currently Pretty Patriotic is approximately 15 hands 1 inch tall, is a January (January 9th) foal, and we expect her to be average size when full grown.
Like all fillies purchased by Daytona Stable, we feel Pretty Patriotic is ‘smart buy’. The initial partnership will partner Pretty Patriotic at the purchase price, plus vetting costs, and other acquisition expenses including shipping to Florida. In addition, the partnership agreement will require partners to pay their share of operating expenses (primarily training and vet) quarterly in advance. The initial partnership cost will contain these expenses through the end of the year.
Pretty Patriotic is already in Ocala, Florida with husband and wife team, Ali and Brandon Rice, at their RiceHorse Stable training center. They will have her for initial training and if things proceed as we hope, she will be transferred to Tom Drury in Kentucky next spring and racing next summer in Kentucky. He is currently training a top Army Mule offspring who, after winning the John Battaglia Stakes at Turfway Park in February, was on the Kentucky Derby Trail this year: California Burrito.
Owning thoroughbred racehorses is highly speculative. The high standard deviation of performance results in many horses losing nearly all their value, while fewer number of horses are highly successful. However, Daytona Stable puts up our own money and is truly a partner. The only managing partner bonus would result if the partnership horse sells for a greater value than the initial purchase price.