Patinack Farm owner Nathan Tinkler expects to finalise the sale of his massive racing and breeding operation within weeks.

Tinkler was at Doomben on Saturday to watch his promising two-year-old Hooked win and he opened up about the personal impact of his decision to sell Patinack Farm, which has been mired in controversy in recent months.

"Let's just say there's bad luck and there's Patinack luck and we'll put it down to that," he said.

Tinkler said he was working through expressions of interest from Australian and overseas buyers.

"We've got a lot of people interested," he said.

"They're a great team of staff and a great bunch of horses, so we should be able to finalise things in the next couple of weeks."

Although he admits it is a difficult decision to sell Patinack, Tinkler said "it's the right thing to do".

"Trust me, it's taken a lot of hard work over the last five to seven years to find those sort of people that can run that operation and put it together and ultimately it will be a great place for someone else to have."

He singled out trainer John Thompson for praise, but hinted other elements of the Australian racing industry hadn't been as supportive.

"I always said if I couldn't make it work with John Thompson, I couldn't make it work with anyone," he said.

"He's not just a great trainer, he's a dear friend."

Tinkler hasn't ruled out returning to the racing industry in the future, but insists he wants to make a clean break in the short term.

"You never say never and I love the sport dearly, so I'm sure I'll be back one day, but I think I need a break from it at the moment," he said.

A walk-in, walk-out sale is what Tinkler is hoping to achieve to enable the Patinack Farm staff to keep their jobs.

"The main aim is to find someone to keep everyone employed and continue to make the business thrive," he said.

Hooked won the Goulburn Valley Handicap (1350m) and emerge as a genuine contender for the Group One JJ Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm in June.

The win represented a small change of fortune for Tinkler on Saturday after his improving stayer Tremec had to be scratched from the Sydney Cup.