In Their Footsteps: Anne Archer Hinkle

by Carly Silver

Editor's Note: In Their Footsteps is an ongoing series on people who have followed their parents into the horse racing industry.

Over the centuries, many families have put down roots in Kentucky, but few boast such a deep connection as the eponymous residents of Hinkle Farms, located in Paris. Kentuckians for over 200 years, the clan has grown into a family tree with many successful branches. Its latest offshoot, 27-year-old Anne Archer Hinkle, has donned the equine mantle as director of bloodstock services for Hinkle Farms.

Anne was quick to note that the property hasn't always had horses, but it's always had Hinkles.

“My great-grandfather, Catesby Spears, bought the farm in 1926, and he used the farm for a lot of things and one of the things that he did was grow bluegrass seed,” Hinkle recalled.

Spears left the land to Anne Archer's paternal grandmother, Sally Spears Hinkle, and her husband Buckner. They raised three boys on the farm, including its current co-owners, Anne Archer's father, Tom, and her uncle Henry.

“My grandfather wanted to spark his sons' interest somehow and he wanted to try to encourage them to get involved in some aspect with farming and land. So he went to Keeneland in the mid-'60s and bought two mares, and so it started,” Hinkel said. “I guess you could say Papa started off as the first generation of horsemen.”

By the 1990s, Henry and Tom had grown Hinkle Farms, which currently occupies about 1100 acres–440 of which are solely devoted to horses–into a successful boarding, breeding, and sales operation.

Always an animal lover, Hinkle has felt a deep connection to the farm, though she only lived there as a child, pitching in to help with work during the summers. She later attended boarding school in North Carolina before going to college at New York University and Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. After graduating in 2012 and deciding against enrollment in veterinary school, she expressed an interest in returning to her roots.

She received the green light from her father and uncle, and has been a full-time employee at the farm since January 2014. Her first task? To identify young prospective broodmares for the farm to purchase or claim, breed, and later pinhook. Once that market saw a decline in profitability, Hinkle's role “shifted and morphed” into one that involves many different responsibilities, which differ from month to month.

Although each task is a team effort, Hinkle specializes in facilitating farm communication.

“[It's] tricky in any business at all, but especially when you've got a team of guys taking care of dozens of horses,” she said.

During the fall and winter, her responsibilities range from supervising equine health records to deciding matings for the upcoming year. Once the November breeding sales are over, it's time for the annual budget; this past year, it meant working on a clearer biosecurity protocol.

Hinkle also works with the broodmare band. Currently numbering 35 to 40 horses– about 30 of whom the Hinkles own–these mares produced some of 2016's most talented runners, including Seeking Gabrielle, dam of 2015 champion juvenile colt and 2016 GI Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist (Uncle Mo). Currently in foal to War Front, the Forestry mare will visit leading sire Tapit in 2017. There's also Madame du Lac (Lemon Drop Kid) and Crosswinds (Storm Cat), respective dams of the Grade I winners Divisidero and Weep No More–both of whom achieved Grade I success in 2016.

Nyquist, in particular, has made the past two years quite thrilling.

“I felt like I had just won the Breeders' Cup and the Derby,” Hinkle enthused. “It was just the most incredible thing. And I'm kind of like a crier about happy things, and we were all just crying and happy, and it was probably me crying.”

Dennis O'Neill, who bought Nyquist for owner Reddam Racing, invited Anne Archer and her then-fiance to watch the Uncle Mo colt train at Keeneland.

“Even though we really didn't have a part in what he had done, they were so nice about making us feel like we were a part of it,” she said, clearly beaming with pride.

And in between Grade I wins, Hinkle has created a new legacy of her own; she got married in June of last year, and hopes to continue in her father's footsteps.

She concluded, “I feel really fortunate, because my dad has always worked with his brothers, and we all know that they get along so well and they've done so well working together…They were nice enough to let me tag along and it's been really, really great.”