The 2022 G1 Lexus Melbourne Cup winner Gold Trip will stand this coming season at the Central Victoria-based stud, Lovatsville for a fee of $8,800.

As a Melbourne Cup winner and weight-for-age Turnbull Stakes victor, Gold Trip retires having demonstrated immense talent and resilience to compete and perform in the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup in back-to-back years. Racing as a 2 year-old in France, onto multiple Group 1 performances as a Classic European 3 year-old where he ran a gallant 4th to Sottass in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, followed by a glittering Australian racing career.

Providing Champion trainer Maher with the crowning achievement of his training career in winning the Melbourne Cup, Gold Trip retires as one of Maher’s best ever gallopers.

“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,” Maher said.

Gold Trip came to Australia with only one win to his name, but a host of strong performances in some of Europe’s premier staying contests. A highlight being his fourth-placed finish in the 2020 Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (2400m) behind Sottsass, beating home the likes of Enable and Stradivarius. Add to that Group 1 placings in the 2020 Grand Prix de Paris (2400m), 2021 Prix Ganay (2100m) and the 2021 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (2400m), he brought an impressive resume to Australia.

His strong form is Europe saw him allotted topweight in the 2022 Lexus Melbourne Cup, despite only having one win to his name.

The 2022 Lexus Melbourne Cup victory was brilliant, blending into the race at the right time and racing clear at the clocktower for jockey Mark Zahra’s maiden Melbourne Cup victory, a moment he thought may have slipped through his grasp after missing the ride on Verry Elleegant in the previous year’s Cup due to suspension.