Lookin At Lee (photo by Michael Cox).
Lookin At Lee (KY)
Bay Colt
Trainer: Steven M. Asmussen
Jockey Last Start: Corey J. Lanerie
Owner: L and N Racing LLC
Breeder: Ray Hanson
Foaled March 7, 2014
Sire: Lookin At Lucky
Dam, Dam Sire: Langara Lass, by Langfuhr
Auction History: Sold to L & N Racing for $70,000 at the Keeneland 2015 September Yearling Sale
Record: 10-2-3-2
Earnings: $852,795
Highest Beyer Speed Figure: 98
Comments: Winless in seven races since capturing the Ellis Park Juvenile last Aug. 6 in his third career start, Steve Asmussen’s charge has finished in the money five times in graded stakes, most notably when he rallied up the rail to complete the exacta in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs at odds of 33-1.
Despite breaking from the dreaded number one post, Lookin At Lee never had a straw in his path as Corey Lanerie guided him along the fence for a mile and a quarter to finish a clear second in front of every rival except winner Always Dreaming.
Lookin At Lee posted a career-best 98 Beyer Speed Figure in Louisville, seven points higher than his previous top earned when he finished third in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on April 15 at Oaklawn Park. Using the Oaklawn preps en route to running for the roses, the colt started his 2017 campaign with a third in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes on Feb. 20 and an uncharacteristic sixth in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes on March 18.
His only other off-the-board finishes came in his 2-year-old season when he was fifth in his June 11 career debut at Churchill Downs and fourth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Santa Anita to close out the year. Ironically, his sire, Lookin At Lucky also drew the disadvantageous first post position in the 2010 Kentucky Derby, but couldn’t escape the trouble that Lookin At Lee eluded and wound up sixth. Lookin At Lucky bounced back after failing as the Derby favorite to take the Preakness en route to the Eclipse Award as Champion 3-year-old Male.
Dam Langara Lass was graded stakes placed and produced a stakes-winning daughter, Battlefield Angel, by 2002 Kentucky Derby runner-up and Preakness show finisher Proud Citizen. Lookin At Lee was purchased as a yearling by Tulsa-based L and N Racing, a four-man partnership headed by the colt’s namesake, Lee Levinson. Asmussen will keep Lookin At Lee at Churchill Downs until May 16, when his trainee and stablemate Hence are slated to travel to Pimlico for the May 20 Preakness Stakes. Lanerie, who rode the colt for the first time in the Derby, retains the mount in the second leg of the Triple Crown.
