I am interested in pinhooking weanlings to yearling thoroughbreds. I am reading the Bloodhorse book Pinhooking for Profit. Do any of you have experience with this? I have a farm and a good place to raise young horses. I have purchased a few yearlings for race prospects through the Keeneland sales. I really could use some good contacts to help me in this process. Thanks in advance for your replies.
It is HARD. We pinhook in the $15k - 350k range and while we have had some success, we probably haven’t broke even. When I say we I’m referring to my boss’ farm. We average 4 horses a year and have worked with several different bloodstock agents when it comes to buying and selling. There are so many things that can go wrong between nov and sept and more often than not radio graphic issues show up that you are surprised by because the horse was never lame or swollen.
We usually do a survey set in late march/ early April in case there are issues that need to be corrected surgically.
It is a bit addicting and the highs are amazing. Of course were always waiting for the next big horse. Super excited about our war front filly for this year
Pin Hooking for those who are not familiar the term is the business of buying weanlings generally at auction and selling the following year as yearlings. The same is done with yearlings for 2 year old in training sales.
It can be high risk and can be high reward. And as most things in racing it is a numbers game. Some break even which is always a good thing, some loose money, big money and some can be homeruns. We generally only read about the homeruns.
Though reading and education ones self is an absolute in any endeavor it is only “101”.
There are so many nuances’ market dynamics and perceptions can change in a matter of months. A person may have bought a “good’ horse at the time but a year latter the market’s mood may have changed and the sire has been “dismissed” and or the family has gone “cold”. The physical horse you bought at the time may have been “perfect” but nature and or the way it was raised went against you. The horse may develop “sales issues” that will have no bearing on its viability to be a racehorse but not a sales horse and you can get your butt handed to you. It takes a keen eye and experience to “visualize” what a young horse will/should look like as a yearling. This usually comes from the school of hard knocks and having our butt handed to us a few times. The safe play can be buying weanlings by proven sires and or families. But you better know the market because it is very easy to pay “yearlings prices” for a weanling. Breaking even is always good but it is such a high risk “investment” it is hard to justify a years worth of stress for little to no return. The horse goes “backwards” hoping that it will change direction, then it does but will it be in time for the sales, etc. A week before the sale it comes up with an stone burse or abscess or gets cast and banged up etc. Speculating on unproven sires is where the money can be found because they can be had at much lower prices. But you better have a lot of “friends” contact in the game that can provide “inside” information. Having been in this business my whole like provides me with this. I can call, email friends, people I started out with who now are farm owner or managers and find out what the “mood on the street” is about certain young sires and their get. We talk about stuff that is never discussed in the press or social media. I can call a lot of trainers that I have known for years and find out if the 2 or 3 year old they have from a family I am interested in maybe the next “big horse”. I could go on in much greater detail but that would be giving away “trade secrets” that I have paid my dues for and make my living by.
Feel free to PM with any questions. Clicking on my screen name will give a link to my back ground.
Got to go have to go out and find out why our really nice Scat Daddy colt who we bred on a $7,500 stud fee, now $30,000 is walking 3 legged and he is suppose to sell next month.
The best education you can get about pinhooking is to go to the Keeneland September sale and watch everything. Look to see what kinds of yearlings the buyers want and who the consignors are that are doing a good job with prep. And of course you’ll also see how many things can go wrong.
Something that many novice pinhookers don’t take into account is the sheer number of bills and fees that will come along between the wealing and yearling sales. Even a healthy weanling will need insurance, look-and-see xrays, prophylactic vet care, suppliments, and sales prep, not to mention the fees associated with the sale itself–usually about 10% of gross goes to the sales company and the consignor, plus sales xrays, halter, stall card, day care, night care, etc.
As others have said, it’s a risky business–but a lot of fun when everything goes right. 
Thank you everyone for your replies. I would love to know the names and contact info on anybody you would recommend as a bloodstock agent, pinhooking partnership or syndicate and good affordable farms that can sale prep and consign if I buy my own weanlings. It sounds like a challenge but I have been wanting to try this for several years. You may pm me with names and contact info if you like.
Heather Hall did it for a while. You might contact them with questions. Heather is super nice.
We pinhook a few every year. Mostly weanling to yearling and if they don’t sell as yearlings, we have had good luck at the 2 yr old sales.
I would get very educated on conformation. Racing buyers are very strict on correctness in the front end so know what offset knees, back at the knee, winging in or out when walking, etc looks like. Once you buy the horse, get a very good farrier that can help keep the horse correct or fix minor deviations while the horse is still growing. Have him out every 2-3 weeks.
Do lots of pedigree research on the dam side. Sometimes you can buy a family on the brink of getting good if you look up the numbers/speed ratings the close relatives are running and communicate with the trainers that have them. We bought a filly that had not a lot of black type in October and by the next spring she had the Black Eyed Susan and Commonwealth stakes winners very close up…two graded stakes winners in the first two generations made a huge difference for her.
Stay away from new sires that are going to have runners when you go to sell. Most stallions fail and even if they are ok, but not great, the luster is off.
We try to look for great physicals by a first year or proven sire. I don’t mind minor xray issues or minor conformation flaws on a super athletic looking weanling. I also will sacrifice some female family if there is sire power and the right physical. We bought an Elusive Quality filly with NO family and did really well with her. She became Grade 1 stakes placed and gave us some credibility as she was our first pinhook.
If you keep the weanlings at your farm be sure to have a good prep program. Yearlings at the sales look very mature and practically ready to run. It’s pretty labor intensive without a horse walker and they will need to be in all day long and fed very well.
