mating plans
In the latest installment of 2026 Mating Plans, Anne Archer and Tom Hinkle discusses upcoming mating plans for Hinkle Farms. SEEKING GABRIELLE, 19, Forestry - Seeking Regina, by Seeking the Gold. Booked to Twirling Candy Seeking Gabrielle has been a very special mare for us and is the dam of Nyquist. Being 19, we know the number of foals she will have are few. Our hope is to get as many fillies as we can. Twirling Candy with Forestry mares is a proven cross and we believe this mating can...
We continue to spotlight a few of the extraordinary mares--and some of the people behind them--who produced the Grade I winners of 2025. The two mares we highlight today are responsible for the last two GI Kentucky Oaks winners, with the 2024 Oaks victress adding to her laurels in 2025 and the 2025 Oaks winner returning to the track for 2026 in hopes of doing the same. Both are also finalists for this week's Eclipse Awards. Sataves, dam of Thorpedo Anna By any measure, Judy Hicks is a smart woman....
"Doing matings with my clients is very much a team thing," says Headley Bell, whose Nicoma Bloodstock has been helping clients mate their mares since 1979. "My role is to try to assist in fulfilling dreams." Nicoma got off to a quick start with mating success, and the hits just keep on coming: in late December, George Strawbridge was first and third in the GI American Oaks with Ambaya (Ghostzapper), who was closely followed by Will Then (War Of Will) in third. Previous successes include two Arc de Triomphe winners...
Stoneriggs Farm has hit the ground running. In operation for just five years, Robert Slack's 600-acre property in Paris, Kentucky is the home of a 70-deep broodmare band. Slack reveals some of his 'Mating Plans' for the upcoming 2026 breeding season in this continuing series. BRANDONS DANGER (m, 9, Into Mischief--Natural Rush, by Indian Charlie), to be bred to Omaha Beach We're sending six mares to Omaha Beach. He's been a horse that we've bred multiple mares to each year. I think he'll go right to the top, he's a...
by George Adams Wasabi Ventures Stables & Stallions continues to upgrade the quality of their breeding stock and the commerciality of the foals that they're producing on their Serendipity Springs Farm. There is a very interesting group of stallions retiring for 2026, and Wasabi has shares in several which we'll be supporting. TICKLE THE IVORIES, 5, Justify-Gagnoa (Ire), by Sadler's Wells. Will be bred to Mindframe. The highest profile of the new stallions with whom Wasabi is involved is the multiple GI winner Mindframe, who retired to Claiborne. He's a...
Editor's Note: Welcome to the first edition of 2026 Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift. We kick off this year's series with a Thoroughbred breeder who is building an elite broodmare band, and always upgrading his stock. Pizza Bianca, 7, Fastnet Rock (Aus)-White Hot (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). Will be bred to Not This Time. A Breeders' Cup Champion deserves the best opportunity to produce another champion. Not This Time gets great horses on dirt and grass. This mating was a no-brainer. Go Go Boots (GB), Night ofThunder (Ire)-Hertford Dancer (GB),...
Last summer, we began "The Producers" as a way to spotlight a few of the extraordinary mares--and some of the people behind them--who produced the Grade I winners of 2025. With 83 individual North American Grade I winners in the books for the 2025 season, we return to it now, continuing with two mares who each made a massive impact at the fall breeding stock sales. Galloping Ami, dam of Kopion Galloping Ami (Victory Gallop) is a mare accustomed to making headlines. Named Outstanding Broodmare in Canada in 2016 after...
Juddmonte has announced mating plans for some of its best mares, including Arc heroines Enable and Bluestocking, who will visit Dubawi in 2026. Meanwhile, Emulous, the dam of Bluestocking, and Viadera, will be covered by Camelot. Lead Artist, the brilliant winner of the Lockinge Stakes, who will stand for £12,500 in his first season at Banstead Manor Stud, will receive strong support. Exemplify, the dam of Breeders' Cup winner Expert Eye, and Kilo Alpha, the dam of Jenny Wiley Stakes winner Juliet Foxtrot, are just a couple of mares that...
Last week in this new series, we put the spotlight on some of the trends--or lack thereof--among the mares that make up the Grade I-producing ranks of 2025 and spent time with multiple Grade I winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner)'s dam, Luna Rosa (Malibu Moon). We asked her connections about her story and the thoughts behind her matings. This week, we do the same with the dams of two Grade I-winning 3-year-olds of 2025: GI Curlin Florida Derby star Tappan Street (Into Mischief) and GI Toyota Blue...
In this new series, we'll spotlight the dams and connections of some of 2025's racetrack superstars. First up, we'll set the scene by explaining our objective and search for trends, then for a curtain raiser we'll kick off the series by checking in with the dam of one of the top older horses of 2025. Tabbed to be something special from the start, 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner) is a multiple Grade I stakes winner and future Gainesway stallion. Grade I-Winning Trends The end of June marked the halfway...
It might seem a bit late in the year to be talking mating plans, but last week's call to Gary Hadden turned out to be a very timely one indeed, with the man at the helm of Craig Bennett's Merry Fox Stud having not one but two significant developments to report. Tragically, the first such update regarding Bennett's beloved Cursory Glance was of the worst possible kind. The daughter of Distorted Humour, who won the G3 Albany Stakes and G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes in a career spanning just four starts...
Fillies from the Aga Khan Studs claimed two of the European Classics last season and both will be covered this spring for the first time. The Oaks winner Ezeliya (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) is in America to be covered by Justify, while Poules d'Essai des Pouliches victrix Rouhiya (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) will remain among the home team and is to visit Sea The Stars (Ire) at Gilltown Stud. Ezeliya's dam Eziyra (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) will return to Dubawi and Rondonia (Ire) (Raven's Pass), the dam of Rouhiya, who is...