Shopping trolley tycoon Jason Woodbridge turns to expensive import New Energy to fill Gold Trip void

Gold Coast owner Jason Woodbridge is looking for his next Gold Trip, which could be the horse he bought the day after the injured star won the Melbourne Cup.

Gold Coast shopping trolley tycoon Jason Woodbridge committed to buying expensive import New Energy the day after his horse Gold Trip won the Melbourne Cup in 2022.

On Saturday in the Group 1 George Ryder (1500m) at Rosehill, he is looking for New Energy to fill the giant void left by Gold Trip, whose career hangs in the balance after suffering an injury earlier this week.

New Energy is the new kid on the block for Woodbridge and Australian Bloodstock, who announced himself with a slashing first-up run in Australia earlier this month, with an eye towards the Group 1 Doncaster Mile next month.

Woodbridge is currently recovering from a broken hip, suffered the day before last year’s Melbourne Cup, but that is nothing compared to his comeback from his brush with death in 2021 when he died twice on the operating table and was placed in a coma for five weeks when the veins in his oesophagus “exploded”.

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“The day before the Cup, I slipped and I thought ‘that is going to hurt’, I was lying on the ground laughing about it,” he said.

“I ended up getting a helicopter to the track on Cup Day and they put me in a buggy to take me to the track, I needed some pain killers in between.

“It was such an adrenaline rush on the day with ‘Trippy’ running along with Ashrun and Lastotchka, I didn’t know what I had done.

“I was the ambassador for Gold Trip on Melbourne Cup, so I was walking around everywhere with sore hip, I got to the hospital and they said ‘you have fractured your hip.’

“I have been locked up in the bedroom for four weeks recovering.”

Jason Woodbridge (left) is one of the part-owners in New Energy, purchased the day after Gold Trip won the Melbourne Cup. Picture: Nigel Hallett

A former greyhound trainer, Woodbridge has amassed shares in dozens of Australian Bloodstock imports and said New Energy brings a level of expectation with him.

“He’s going to be a class act this horse, he is really nice and we have a few coming through we are hoping can be the next Gold Trip,” he said.

“The money that I got from winning the (Melbourne) Cup in 2022, I used some of that to buy into New Energy the day after the race.

“I put my hand up straight after winning and said ‘I am in’, so it’s ironic he is racing in a Group 1 this weekend and ‘Trippy’ is out in the paddock a bit sore.

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“I am on crutches at the moment as well, so I’m not getting around too well either.

“The barrier draw looks pretty ordinary on Saturday, but from what he has done already, he is going to be a class act.”

While Gold Trip’s future is in doubt after suffering a tendon injury during the week, Woodbridge said the owners were keen to give trainer Ciaron Maher time to work out the extent of what he is working with.

“It took us all by shock a bit, but Ciaron is very confident it isn’t that major, and after what he has done with Ashrun, we aren’t ready to pull the pin yet.”

Originally published as Shopping trolley tycoon Jason Woodbridge turns to expensive import New Energy to fill Gold Trip void