Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Hinkle Family ‘Determined’ To Keep Turning Out Good Horses

Hinkle paused after recalling that race. He explained that Giulio’s Jewel coliced and had to be put down in 2022, so he opted to retain her final foal, a filly by Frosted, to add to the broodmare band.

“You know, being a breeder can be really hard, but we really enjoy it and the farm means a lot to us,” Hinkle said. “We are a family operation, even though we are primarily commercial breeders, and having the farm and the horses still in the family means everything to me.”

Hinkle’s grandfather purchased the farm property in the 1920’s, raising sheep, cattle and bluegrass until Hinkle’s mother inherited the land in the 1960’s.

“In the mid 1960’s, my father bought a couple of Thoroughbred mares,” said Hinkle. “I think his hope that my brothers and I might have an increased interest in the farm. Well, Henry and I got the ‘bug,’ and we just never got away from it.”

Initially, the two Hinkle brothers ran a boarding business and sales business under the name Hidaway Farm. By 2010, Hinkle said he’d realized that they were struggling to compete with the major players in the industry, so the family changed tactics.

“We decided to focus on breeding and selling our own horses,” he said. “We don’t really have clients anymore. We’re primarily commercial breeders, but we’re kind of old-fashioned and we don't sell through consignors. Henry and I, we’re old guys, but I think we have a pretty good reputation and we have been around for a long time. I think if buyers have had success buying from you in the past, they are more likely to believe they can do it again.”

For the past 10 years, Hinkle’s daughter, Anne Archer, has played an increasingly large role in the farm’s operations. She earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Kentucky, and, as of 2023, Anne Archer took over day-to-day as the farm’s general manager.

“She’s got a passion for it; she loves being on the farm, she loves the horses, and she likes being engaged with the staff,” Hinkle said. “My brothers and I grew up on that farm, but none of us live there now. She’s getting ready to move into the house on the farm where we grew up, where my parents lived all their lives. It is so special.

“She’s improved our operation a lot – she’s very detail oriented and very analytical. So she’s been a huge help, not only with the day-to-day, but her analytical nature has improved our process in determining matings. Between Henry, Anne Archer and me, we all sit down and brainstorm and work together, and try to come up with the right cost to put in a stud fee for specific mares, so it’s a team effort.”

One of the major tenets of Hinkle-raised horses, on which all three Hinkles agree, is that they get the chance to be outside.

“Horses aren't meant to live in stalls,” Hinkle said. “Yes, we’re trying to take horses to the market and make money selling horses, but our philosophy is that the best advertisement to sell horses is to breed and raise good runners. To do that, horses have to learn to compete, and be in an environment where they can build bone and physically develop. Maybe other people can do it differently and have success doing it, but for us, horses that stay up a lot, it hasn’t worked for us. They need to be outside and get scraped up. When it comes prep time, we’re gonna do everything we can to have them looking the best they’re gonna look in their entire lives, but hopefully the work we’ve done in advance will help make that happen. During sales prep, horses go out every night, even up until the night before the sale.”

Another firm principle at Hinkle Farm is that good mares don’t get sold.

“We have tended to keep our good mares, like Seeking Gabrielle, who is still going strong at age 17,” Hinkle said. “Long-term, how are you going to stay in the game if you don’t have good mares?”

Thus, Seeking Gabrielle will have a lifelong home at Hinkle Farm, as will several of her daughters. In particular, Hinkle has his eye on a 2-year-old full sister to Nyquist that the farm has retained and currently has in early training to race.

“One of the things we’ve learned is that we’ve gotta have enough good mares to produce enough foals, because some of the yearlings are going to work out really well, and some you’re going to lose on,” he said. “You hope you’ve got enough that do well to carry the load for the ones that don’t.”