Australian Bloodstock director Jamie Lovett said his admiration for Gold Trip as a racehorse and his anticipation about his future were key in the decision to retire the 2022 Melbourne Cup champion to stud.

“We could have rehabbed him with his tendon and maybe got him back to the track, but we didn’t want him to become just another horse,” Lovett said of the French-bred Gold Trip.

“He did our colors proud every time he stepped out. He’s done such an amazing job for us. A real banner horse that we will treasure forever.

“He’s been a very good horse to everyone – a very special horse.

“Now he now gets the opportunity to continue that success at stud. That is so exciting for the group as he’s got the looks, the style and the elite performance that could see him really make his mark there.”

Lovett admitted going well beyond the normal spending limits for European imports when he teamed with trainer Ciaron Maher’s bloodstock expert Will Bourne to buy Gold Trip out of France for $2.3 million,

“He just looked one out of the box in everything he’d done up to that stage and so we went for him and thankfully, got him,” he said.

Not all went to plan however with Racing Victoria vets denying him a Cox Plate run in 2022 for his Australian debut as he was deemed to be lame. The following autumn, a foot abscess put him out again until the spring, where he would make his move and become a Melbourne Cup champion.

Lovett said few stallions could boast such racetrack performances.

“His CV is extraordinary,” he said. “He ran fourth in an Arc, is a G2 winner in France, won a Melbourne Cup, ran two placings in Caulfield Cups, arguably he could have won a Cox Plate when running fifth and he beat up Romantic Warrior (in the 2023 Turnbull Stakes).

“He’s not a hard horse to send a broodmare to if you want to get a good racehorse.

“He’s a beautiful style of horse with an incredible attitude – that’s what I like when I am mating my mares. He’s also got a set of lungs that I don’t think I’ve ever been involved with before.”



Lovett said that Gold Trip, who will stand for just $8800 at his first season in the spring at Lovatsville near Seymour, will get every opportunity to succeed at stud.

“He’s got a very good ownership base that will send plenty of good mares to him,” he said.

“I thought it was always imperative that we stood him down there (in Victoria),

“He was sought-after by a few New Zealand farms, who were keen to get him, but, myself included, the ownership base would have been less inclined to send mares to New Zealand.

“At my farm (in NSW), we breed 30 mares and I am happy to send them down. Obviously, I want to be able to support him and be art of the journey now for whatever happens in the future.”