Lookin for Eight's maiden win brings out well-heeled suitors

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Before Lookin for Eight even passed under the wire an impressive maiden winner on the Pegasus World Cup undercard last Saturday at Gulfstream Park, it was easy to envision Mike Tomlinson’s cellphone blowing up.

It’s the reality of the day: A smaller outfit showcases a promising young horse, and the big guys swoop right in to buy it.

“It’s the nature of the business,” said Tomlinson, who trains Lookin for Eight for Erv Woolsey and Ralph Kinder. “If you can train a racehorse, it’s nice to be able to hold onto the good ones, but then the big guys beat you up with their money and take them away.”

As of Friday, a signed sales agreement was pending for Lookin for Eight. Tomlinson was not at liberty to reveal the buyer or price but said: “It is one of the big fish, you might say, and it’s plenty of money, believe me. The horse is still in my barn, but it looks like he’ll be gone any day now.”

Lookin for Eight, a chestnut 3-year-old by Lookin At Lucky, has raced twice. He finished second to Batallion Runner in his Dec. 31 debut at Gulfstream, earning an 80 Beyer Speed Figure, before his three-length triumph (86 Beyer) in a full field of 14 last weekend. Both races were at seven furlongs, and it’s a good bet that the buyer is acquiring Lookin for Eight to stretch him out to longer distances with an eye toward the May 6 Kentucky Derby.

Woolsey, Kinder, and Ashford Stud bred Lookin for Eight. Woolsey is a country-music club owner in Nashville, and Kinder is primarily a commercial breeder with a farm in Paris, Ky. No one, including Tomlinson, can blame them for accepting an offer that can’t be refused.

“There are some positive aspects to selling, no doubt,” said Tomlinson, whose stable typically has 20 to 30 horses and migrates between Kentucky and Florida. “But sometimes you feel like you’re a dead whale in the middle of the ocean and the sharks are having a feeding frenzy.”

Tomlinson, 63, has never run a horse in the Kentucky Derby. He had Sir Cherokee ready for the 2003 running off a 50-1 upset in the Arkansas Derby, but the colt had to be scratched off the program with a minor injury.