Keeneland, Investing in Racing's Future since 1936.
Issue link: https://keenelandmagazine.epubxp.com/i/681141
passion for the land 42 SUMMER 2016 K KEENELAND.COM the company paving roads and building airport runways in Kentucky as well as in Central America. The company also operat- ed rock quarries. Two Hinkle sons, Tom and Henry, held executive positions. Six years ago the Hinkles sold the business to a com- pany based in Denver, Colo. Despite the slow beginning the senior Hinkle persevered with his horse inter- ests. He had advice and help from friends in Bourbon County, most notably the late Arthur B. "Bull" Hancock Jr. Seth Hancock, a son of Bull Hancock, continued to encour- age the Hinkles and "has always been very nice about letting us breed to many of the Claiborne stallions, as well as participate in stallion syndications," noted Henry Hinkle, Tom's brother. Their father "had a real passion for the farm," Henry said. "He wanted his sons to be interested in the farm, and I think he also thought our horses might spark a little interest in us." Long be- fore the senior Hinkle died in 1999, Tom and Henry had immersed themselves in the family's horse business — as well as operating the construction business. Henry Hinkle was attending University of North Carolina and was a close friend of Ted McClain, a former horse trainer who owns an insurance company in Paris. McClain was early in his racetrack career, working for trainer Lucien Laurin in New York and Florida, when Henry paid him a visit in 1972 at Hi- aleah Race Course near Miami. Riva Ridge was in the barn and destined to win that year's Ken- tucky Derby. Secretariat, age 2, had just joined the team. "Henry spent two or three nights with Ted in the tack room, and Ted said, 'I want you to see something,' " Tom recalled. "They went down the shed row and Ted said, 'this horse just got here.' And it was Secretariat. [The following year, 1973, Secretariat won the Triple Crown.] "Anyway, Henry got very interested, and maybe because my brother was interested, I got interested in it and liked the horses." Henry graduated from North Carolina in 1973 and managed the farm for perhaps two years. Then he transitioned into Hin- kle Contracting, becoming president in 1982. Tom graduated from Centre College in 1979 and managed the farm until the late 1980s when he, too, joined Hinkle Contracting, eventually becoming an executive vice president. Their other brother, Buckner (Buck), built a law career in Lex- ington, practicing with Stites and Harbison. Tom, however, was most involved with the farm, as hands-on manager for the lon- gest period. "Tom really wore two hats," said Henry. "He carried the load. He looked after the farm and also a signifcant portion of the compa- ny, as well." The most recent family member to take on a role at Hinkle Farms is Tom's daughter, Anne Archer Hinkle. She joined the farm in 2014 and is director of bloodstock services. Like all the other children of the Hinkle family, Anne Archer shares in the farm ownership. Finding a niche Hinkle Farms, then known as Hidaway Farm, was a growing en- tity in the early 1980s. The family bred its own horses and built up what Tom called "a respectable boarding business" for mares and foals. The operation also consigned to sales. "I think the biggest yearling consignment we had was 41," said Tom. In 1985 the Hin- kles reached their apex, selling a Danzig colt the family bred for $1 million at the Keeneland July sale. Then, in 1986, federal income tax laws changed the way horse owners could deduct expenses. Consequently, many got out of Tom's daughter, Anne Archer Hinkle, is director of bloodstock services for the farm. With a trove of high-end mares, Hinkle Farms can count on high-quality consignments to future sales.