The Greatest Love Of All – trainer Mick Burles with The Cleaner
There is only one cult horse in Saturday’s Sportingbet Cox Plate, only one who was feted with his own street parade, only one who’d give a Booker Prize winning author a run for his money as a small Tasmanian town’s most famous citizen.
There is only one warm and fuzzy feel good story in this field of fourteen.
But while warm fuzz and streamers are accompanying The Cleaner across the Strait to the Cox Plate, they are not fuel. They will not make him run faster.
Once the gates open at just after 8am (SA time) on Saturday the fairytale is suspended and the race is on.
There will be no greater tale if he wins — and no greater payout.
Some punters are hard-nosed and analytical, others buy into the story and many have bought into the story of the humble The Cleaner and the 2014 Cox Plate.
TAB punters alone will collect over $1 million if The Cleaner wins. By late yesterday 6182 punters had backed The Cleaner with the TAB, second only to favourite Fawkner (20,572).
Down at Sportingbet, The Cleaner has been $101 into $15 since September 6 and the bookie has written four times as many tickets on The Cleaner as any other runner.
Sportingbet’s Andrew Brown said: “The Cleaner was our worst way by a six-figure sum because of that phenomenal public support. He is the ultimate Cox Plate fairytale and it seems every punter in Australia wants to play a part in the story by holding a ticket for him to win.
“He’s the battler and the underdog, and punters identify with that, which is why every man and his dog have backed him to win.’’
The Cleaner winning the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes (Getty Images)
It’s been a similar plunge at the TAB — $101 when chain-smoking trainer Mick Burles and his three golf mates first nominated, now $12 — where the payout as of Thursday night would be $709,991 if he won.
The TAB expects the support to continue to the tune of another $500,000 bet on The Cleaner by race time.
A TAB source said The Cleaner was the most loved Tasmanian since Ricky Ponting and that the TAB’s bookies were “worried”.
“He loves the valley and every time this campaign the bar has been raised he has met the challenge,’’ he said.
“Obviously this is a big ask, but all the ratings don’t measure a horses heart and desire to win, and that can’t be underestimated in a race that has seen the bubble of so many emerging stars burst.”
Brown said there was a strong case against The Cleaner and a hopeful case for, which includes his good Valley record (four wins), proven Cox Plate jockey (Steve Arnold) and a lack of superstar rivals.
“There’s no Sunline or Northerly or So You Think in this edition of the race, so if he was ever going to win a Cox Plate he’s found the right year to do it,’’ he said.
The case against is sobering, including that he has never contested let alone won a Group 1 and that Tasmania is more renowned for world class authors (ie Richard Flanagan) than world class horses.
Four years ago Steve Arnold won the Cox Plate on So You Think, a dual Cox Plate winner, international star and arguably the greatest Australian middle distance horse since Kingston Town.
The Longford locals gather to send The Cleaner off
Arnold says he doesn’t know if The Cleaner can do it, but Timeform’s Gary Crispe, for one, has a definite view.
Crispe is analytical, not sentimental. He says the cult horse cannot win.
“For The Cleaner to win it would have to be one of weakest Cox Plates of recent times. It’s not the strongest edition but it’s not the weakest either, it’s somewhere in the middle,’’ he said.
“I expect horses like Fawkner, Sacred Falls and Criterion to have his measure.’’
But Crispe conceded one thing — The Cleaner has a knack of confounding experts like him.
“He rated a 121 for his last win, which is quite amazing for a horse at his age (seven),’’ he said.
“Win, lose or draw it’s an amazing story, he’s an amazing horse.’’
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