'He is a unique proposition' - Melbourne Cup hero Gold Trip to stand at Lovatsville

Gold Trip has become the latest addition to Australia's stallion ranks, with the Melbourne Cup winner set to join the Lovastville roster, where he will stand for an introductory fee of A$8,800 (£4,600/€5,400).

In a move that Sam White, founder and CEO of Lovatsville, feels "offers something different", Gold Trip will stand at Lovatsville alongside Royal Meeting, the sire of this season's Blue Diamond Stakes winner Hayasugi, Japanese-bred Fierce Impact, and Generation, who, like Gold Trip, will cover his first book of mares in 2024.  

White, who previously worked for Coolmore and later Ciaron Maher Racing before embarking on other business interests within and outside the racing industry, joined forces with Seymour Park owners Darren Thomas and Mark Pilkington and Leneva Park’s Luke Vandersluys to form Lovatsville at the latter's Northwood Road farm, and is excited to stand the former Maher inmate.

"He is a unique proposition and it probably adds diversity to what our roster currently offers," White said of Gold Trip.

"He was a Melbourne Cup winner and the breeding industry will probably see that as a negative, but if you look at his career in totality he did race as a two-year-old and he was a Group winner at three and performed in an Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

"He was also second and third in a Caulfield [Cup] and also arguably very unlucky in a couple of Cox Plates."

Having begun life in France with Fabrice Chappet, Gold Trip won the Prix Greffulhe as a three-year-old, which would prove to be his sole victory from ten starts in his homeland.

Gold Trip (Mark Zahra) leads home fellow import Emissary to land the 2022 Melbourne CupCredit: Jonathan DiMaggio

However, during those outings, the son of Outstrip placed at the top level on no fewer than three occasions, while he also ran a terrific fourth in the 2020 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, beaten two and a quarter lengths behind Sottsass. 

In a deal reported to be worth A$2.3 million, Gold Trip was then sold to Luke Murrell and Jamie Lovett's Australian Bloodstock and was transferred to Maher and David Eustace. 

He made his long-awaited debut down under in July 2022, with a third-placed finish in the Winter Challenge at Rosehill. A Naturalism Stakes third and Turnbull Stakes fifth would follow, before the entire announced himself on the stayers' scene with a narrow second in the 2022 Caulfield Cup, running Durston to within a head.

Putting a disappointing ninth-placed effort in the Cox Plate behind him, Gold Trip's next start saw him defeat Emissary by two lengths under Mark Zahra in a dominant Melbourne Cup victory, handing Maher and Eustace their first win in the Flemington showpiece. 

Maher said: “He won a Melbourne Cup, was beaten a lip in the Caulfield Cup, was a weight-for-age Turnbull Stakes winner, could have won a Cox Plate and was elite in an Arc. He is a legitimate freak." 

Gold Trip doubled his Group 1 tally in the Turnbull Stakes the following season, impressively dispatching a high-class field, including Caulfield Cup second West Wind Blows, last year's Melbourne Cup runner-up Soulcombe, and champion Hong Kong stayer Romantic Warrior, who has since been undefeated in four runs including for his historic win in the 2023 Cox Plate.

"His win in the Turnbull was outstanding, when he blew past Romantic Warrior and we all know what that horse can do," White told ANZ Bloodstock News.

Gold Trip: "to stand a Melbourne Cup winner is something really unique"

"Gold Trip is a stayer with a bit of speed and class. There is a place for high-quality racehorses at stud and given time and patience you can have success with them, as evidenced by horses like Shocking and Tarzino, to name a small few.

"To stand a Melbourne Cup winner is something really unique for the farm and the brand."

Returning for 2024 with an excellent third placing in the Peter Young Stakes at Caulfield on February 24, Gold Trip subsequently suffered a tendon injury the following month, something that has led to connections curtailing his racing career.

The second foal out of Sarvana, who is a half-sister to Group 3 scorer and Group 1 placegetter Sarkiyla, Gold Trip is a half-brother to the stakes-placed winner Got Wind and winner Gotha.

He retires with an overall record of three wins and a further eight placings, including five of those at the highest level, and prize-money earnings of A$7,325,486.

“What appealed to us in Gold Trip was his dynamic turn of foot, as we saw in that explosive performance in the Turnbull Stakes," Australian Bloodstock's Lovett said on Thursday. 

"There is no doubt in my mind that he was beating the best 2,000-metre field assembled in this country in the last 20 years and he beat them with his head in his chest.

“Weight-for-age is our measure for the elite, however when he was asked to carry weight in the big handicaps he had the class to do that too and I believe that is a quality that will resonate with breeders looking to breed a genuine racehorse.”

Moving into his new career at stud, White feels that the now seven-year-old will have little trouble in gaining support from breeders, and also believes his opening fee is one that will appeal.

"He has a very supportive and dedicated ownership behind him who are keen to support him at stud," White told ANZ Bloodstock News.

"When you have people like Australian Bloodstock and Ciaron Maher looking at his stock at the sales in a few years' time, they won’t be scrubbing off Gold Trip.

"We are very happy to have him at the price point he is and it gives breeders an option to tap into real class and quality. 

"He just offers something different and that is something we are proud of."

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