pinhook

v. to speculate in race horses. Subjects: English, Business, Horses, Money & Finance, Sports & Recreation

Etymological Note: This is a jargonized variation of pinhook defined by the Dictionary of American Regional English as “to act as a pinhooker,...a small-time speculator in farm products, esp. tobacco, esp. one who buys directly from farmers.” DARE traces the origins of later forms to the adjective pinhook, meaning “petty, small-time,” which is recorded as early as 1834 in Davy Crockett’s Narrative Life.

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Citations: [1951 Athens Messenger (Ohio) (Dec. 10) “Suspect in Cattle Thefts is Arrested at McArthurh” (in Gallipolis) p. 12: The Charleston officials warned buyers not to purchase the cattle that they were “hot” but a “pin-hooker” (a buyer outside regular channels) purchased the three head.…The pinhooker who made the purchase and the person selling the cattle are both liable for criminal action.] [1962 Salisbury Times (Md.) (July 12) p. 4: Pinhooking livestock refers to the illegal practice of buying animals at or near markets before they can be offered for sale in the competitive bidding of the auction ring. The pinhooker persuades the farmer to sell for less than he would get in the ring.] 1986 Mitch Polin Los Angeles Times (May 11) “Dentist’s Drill Differs at Track” p. 1: “We’ve virtually been in every phase of the business,” he said. “We’ve claimed, owned, trained and even done some pin-hooking for three years.” But the pin-hooking business, in which they would buy a horse at an auction in Kentucky in hopes of selling it for a higher price in California, had its down side. 1993 Jennifer Stynes Australian Financial Review (May 31) “Willesee Horses Fetch $3.46M” p. 15: Although many of the weanlings are to be pinhooked, they brought yearling-style prices. Still, with the yearling market on the rise it’s possibly the time to take such risks. (Pinhooking means buying weanlings to be sold on as yearlings. The breeder gains cash-flow and the buyer assumes the cost of yearling sale preparation in expectation of the horse gaining value.) 2006 Forbes (Feb. 28) “Colt Sold for Record $16 Million”: The colt’s sale price last year at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July select auction now looks like the bargain of a lifetime. Randy Hartley and Dean De Renzo of Florida bought the yearling for $425,000 for the purpose of reselling him, a practice known as pinhooking.

Posted 7 Mar 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

Scalper (scalping) is used in Iowa to describe actions similiar to “pinhooker (pinhooking).

by Gary Hutchinson 08 Sep 07, 0130 GMT

The term “pinhooker” is rather commonly used (though not pejoratively)in Ireland particularly to identify certain professional horse buying agents.

by camerondiamond5 23 Feb 10, 0836 GMT