Tasmanian Mick Burles has been sacked as the trainer of cult hero The Cleaner.
Burles was told by connections on Monday that he was sacked, with The Cleaner to head to a stable at Mornington in Victoria.
It’s believed the ownership group were unhappy with Burles, who made comments following The Cleaner’s recent form, flagging retirement as an option for the eight-year-old.
Having trained The Cleaner to 14 wins from 59 starts for $1.3 million in prize money, Burles was obviously shocked to find out The Cleaner’s career would continue without him.
“They came out and told me this morning,” Burles told AAP.
“I’m quite pissed off, but they’ll get the same result they got before.
“They couldn’t tell me who is taking him, so that’s a good start, but I won’t be taking him back and fixing him again.”
The Cleaner has resumed since running seventh to Winx in the Cox Plate, finishing seventh at Launceston on December 9.
He was due to run again before targeting the Magic Millions Trophy on January 9, but that has been ruled out due to lack of form.
Burles said The Cleaner was scoped and had blood taken on Monday morning with X-rays scheduled if those tests showed nothing.
“He’s been running off the track in his last three races and it’s quite obvious something’s wrong,” Burles said.
“There’s no heat, no swelling, but he’s a very tough horse and can race through that pain barrier, but it’s quite obvious that something’s hurting him in the race.”
Burles said The Cleaner was also not himself around the stable.
The issue doesn’t reflect well on the ownership group with social media coming out in support of Burles, labelling the group “selfish” for forcing a horse well past his best to continue racing.
It’s yet to be determined if any trainer will take on The Cleaner, but it will be a massive challenge to reignite this once great cult hero.
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