Trip To Paris (Ire) (Champs Elysees {GB}-La Grande Zoa {Ire}, by Fantastic Light), winner of the 2015 G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, has been retired from racing and will reside at the National Stud in Newmarket. He will be available for public viewing and will be retrained for showing and parading with the Retraining of Racehorses initiative.
Trained by Ed Dunlop for La Grange Partnership, Trip To Paris won once each as a 2- and 3-year-old, but he stepped up his game after being gelded before his 4-year-old campaign. The bay won three straight handicaps, including the Chester Cup, before finishing second in the 2015 G3 Henry II S., after which he sprang a 12-1 upset in the Gold Cup. Third behind Big Orange (GB) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}) in the G2 Qatar Goodwood Cup thereafter, Trip To Paris made a good account of himself on a trip to Australia, finishing second in the G1 Caulfield Cup and fourth in the G1 Melbourne Cup. He injured himself when down the field in the G1 Japan Cup, and an abbreviated 5-year-old campaign saw him add a third in the G1 Irish St Leger. The 6-year-old made three starts this term, most recently beating one home in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
“He's been the ultimate horse for a syndicate,” Dunlop said. “He cost approximately 20 grand as a breeze-up horse. He won a Chester Cup, an Ascot Gold Cup, was second in a Caulfield Cup and was fourth in a Melbourne Cup. He came from nowhere, really. He was a great story and the day he won the Ascot Gold Cup we all won, including myself as one of the owners–that is something we'll cherish for the rest of our lives.”
Dunlop added, “He started 2015 winning a handicap at Lingfield, then a trial race for the Chester Cup, then the Chester Cup. He was then unlucky at Sandown in the Henry II S. After Ascot he was beaten a head and neck in the Goodwood Cup by Big Orange, carrying a Group 1 penalty. He was a great stayer. Unfortunately he went to Japan and got injured. He was never the same horse after that.”
Trip To Paris won six of 27 starts and earned £808,062.
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