spin

v. in horseracing, to renege on an agreement to have a jockey ride a racehorse. Subjects: English, Horses, Sports & Recreation

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Citations: 1993 Liz Hafalia San Francisco Chronicle (Aug. 27) “The Agent: The Need To Talk a Good Game” p. E2: To keep the fewest people irate at any one time, Barsotti, who has been an agent for seven years, has rules: “Don’t make commitments early, don’t spin late.” Spin, at the track, means renege on a deal. 1999 Rachel Blount Star-Tribune (Minneapolis, Minn.) (Aug. 20) “On the right track” p. 5C: Agents often make early commitments to more than one horse in a race, figuring that the field will thin out by the time post positions are drawn. But if both horses enter, one of the trainers will be jilted. Jockeys also can back out of a commitment if they get an offer to ride a better horse in another race or at another track. Conversely, trainers sometimes promise a mount to a jockey and then dump him at the last minute for someone else. Those practices, called “spinning,” create a daily litany of hard feelings, broken hearts and promises of revenge. 1999 Bob Fortus New Orleans Times-Picayune (La.) (Dec. 23) “Jockey Agents Always On Alert ‘Spinning’ Causes Backstretch Agony” p. D1: “Spinning” is the racetrack term for maneuvering by which agents change mounts shortly before entries are taken, or trainers change riders. 2004 Chicago Sun-Times (Aug. 15) “Dettori gets long shot home in Beverly D.”: Prado also earned the ire of Million-winning trainer Michael Matz, who continued to insist that the determined West Coast reinsman had given him a commitment to ride Kicken Kris in the Million. Instead, Matz insisted, Prado and agent Bob Fries reneged—“spun,” in the parlance of the backstretch—six days before the Arlington centerpiece.

Posted 19 Aug 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend