Stallions

Melbourne Cup Champion Gold Trip to stand at Lovatsville

16 May 2024

Ciaron Maher Racing, Australian Bloodstock and new Victorian Stallion Station, Lovatsville, are pleased to announce that Gold Trip will stand this coming season at the Central Victoria-based stud, Lovatsville for a fee of $8,800 (incl. GST).

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.”

Co-purchaser and owner of Gold Trip, Australian Bloodstock’s Jamie Lovett spoke of the attraction of Gold Trip when sourcing him from Europe “What appealed to us in Gold Trip was his dynamic turn of foot, as we saw in that explosive performance in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes. There is no doubt in my mind that he was beating the best 2000m field assembled in this country in the last 20 years and he beat them with his head on his chest.”

Lovett further added, in qualifying Gold Trip’s stud credentials “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 breeder’s looking to breed a genuine racehorse.”

Lovatsville’s Sam White is delighted to add Gold Trip to the Lovatsville roster “It is quite rare that the Australasian breeding community get a chance to access horses who have performed so well in an Arc, arguably Europe’s premier race. Gold Trip had the versatility to race at the highest level here for multiple seasons demonstrating his class and toughness, while also displaying obvious speed where he flew past subsequent Cox Plate winner Romantic Warrior in the Turnbull.”

White feels that Gold Trips performance, physique and price point will pique the interest of many breeders “At $8,800 he is priced extremely well considering his ability. We want to inject further value into the opportunity by providing very attractive breeding right packages so that Gold Trip’s supporters can access him for the duration of his career for a modest outlay.”

Alongside the breeding right packages in Gold Trip, Ciaron Maher Racing, Australian Bloodstock and Gold Trip’s ownership group have committed to supporting the horse at stud, ensuring that he starts his career at stud positively.

To learn more about Gold Trip and the breeding right packages available, or Lovatsville and the other stallions on their roster for this season, please visit their website www.lovatsville.com or contact Sam White: +61 408 123 428 or sam@lovatsville.com

Lovatsville’s 2025 stallion fees - Premium service and a deal-focused mentality to the fore.

23 May 2025

Following the announcement of exciting Group 1-winning 2-year-old, Move To Strike, Lovatsville have released their fees for the entire roster with each of Royal Meeting (Ire), Fierce Impact (Jpn), Generation and Gold Trip (Fr) remaining at their 2024 quote.

Bucking the trend in 2025 where commercial service fees have increased on average, Lovatsville have held fees steady while leaving the door open for further value through a select number of deals on offer.

“We are conscious that times are tough and we need to support each other. Small breeders are the backbone of the game, and our attitude towards business is reflective of that understanding. We want everyone to win,” White added on the opportunity of the deals on offer.

In joining the Lovatsville ranks at a fee of $16,500 (incl. GST), Move To Strike retires as I Am Invincible first and only Group 1 winning two year-old at stud “For breeders to be able to access a horse of the times, with the pedigree, profile and physique of Move To Strike, and at a price point where people can make money, we think is terribly exciting. He’s big, strong, and sexy and will appeal to the commercially focused breeder.”

Royal Meeting covered the biggest and best book of his career last season of 129 mares, thanks to the brilliant G1 Blue Diamond winner Hayasugi, and he remains at $22,000 (incl. GST) in 2025. From a sire line known for producing later maturing sprinting sorts, Royal Meeting has proven his ability by leaving a Group 1 winner, a host of smart city performers and is developing a profile in Hong Kong through recent winner King Lotus and the emerging Incredible Moment.

“Royal Meeting has got good numbers coming through and recently made his mark in Hong Kong. His fee remains the same because he’s had a 2-year-old Group 1 winner in his first crop, which is difficult to achieve. He’s shown he can do it and has more to follow in the coming months. Like all of our established horses however, we are open to doing deals with clients to assist in the economic climate,” said White

Fierce Impact remains at the value fee of $13,750 (incl. GST) and with continued murmurings of the potential of his stock he looks to be one of the better “punt” horses on offer this season. “Fierce Impact is a horse we have a lot of faith in. No one expected them to be early 2-year-old sorts, but from only a handful of runners, he’s had the winning and black-type performer Zelia, as well as Fine Star who was fourth on debut in a Listed race, and Matt Smith’s Fierceness ran fourth on debut at Canterbury and that race has Group 1 Sires Produce form around it,” said White.

Fierce Impact has excelled in the ring with his second season stock averaging $90,000, representing a 5.5x return on service fee, with his stock realising up to $400,000 at Inglis Easter for the Hirondelle colt to respected judge Kevin Walls. On top of that a Magic Millions colt fetched $200,000, going to Lindsay Park, with Simon Miller a returning buyer of the breed when paying $170,000 at the Melbourne Premier Sale for a filly out of Silk Jacket.

A few seasons ago, a horse that appealed to Ciaron Maher as the “right” kind of Snitzel, in his eyes, at the Magic Millions was the colt that would become Generation. A $575,000 Magic Millions yearling purchased in partnership with Dermot Farrington, the ripping looking first foal from triple-stakes winning 2 year-old speed machine Fontiton delivered on his looks and pedigree as an undefeated 2 year-old, multiple Group 3 winning 3 year-old and dual Group 1 performed sprinter. He stands this season at an unchanged $11,000 (incl. GST).

Acquired because he was the “right” kind of Snitzel, Generation has furnished into one of the most magnificent stallions, strong whilst retaining his athleticism, a lovely colour and a thumping big hip on him which is why the team are eagerly awaiting his first foals. “If he produces horses that look like himself, we’ll see continued support because he has the capability of producing the types of horses that the market wants; fast, sexy, sleek looking racehorses with a commercial flavour to them,” Lovatsville’s Sam White said. “I think it’s also important to note that Ciaron Maher has taken a stake in Generation as he believes that horses like him stand as good a chance as any to be the next Vinnie, Written or Tassort. Finger’s crossed.”

Melbourne Cup winner Gold Trip rounds out the roster at the value fee of $8,800 (incl. GST). A grandson of Exceed and Excel, from a brilliant Aga Khan family and returning a CT Short on the Equinome speed gene test, Gold Trip ran as a 2 year-old before becoming a Group winner at three in France, running third in the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and fourth in the time-honoured G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Sent to Australia he won the aforementioned Melbourne Cup as well as a high-class Group 1 Turnbull Stakes, defeating global superstar Romantic Warrior in the process.

“I love this horse. He’s a king. He’s got the looks, the attitude, and we know he had the performance. As a 3-year-old he ran an amazing fourth in the Arc, where he looked like the winner in the straight. I struggle to think of a local 3 year-old who could produce that kind of performance at that level, yet you can access him at a fraction of a price of his contemporaries at stud,” said White.

On the prospects of the upcoming season, White is confident in the balance of the roster and the ability for Lovatsville to develop their foothold in the competitive stallion market “We’re proud to stand five quality options for the market at competitive rates, with greater value on offer. We love to look at pedigrees, providing advice and structuring deals that benefit the breeder, so we encourage anyone interested in our stallions to reach out for a no-obligation assessment of your mares. We will get straight to the point.”

To learn more about Lovatsville, book to this seasons stallions or acquire breeding rights in Move To Strike, Generation or Gold Trip, please visit their website www.lovatsville.com or contact:

Sam White: +61 408 123 428 or sam@lovatsville.com
Brian Byrnes: +61 478 010 364 or brian@lovatsville.com
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