Willie Mullins will no longer train for Michael O'Leary's Gigginstown House Stud following a disagreement over training fees.

Mullins has trained a host of top class racehorses for Gigginstown including current inmates Apple's Jade, Don Poli, Sir Des Champs, Valseur Lido and Blow By Blow. A total of 40 Gigginstown-owned horses raced for Mullins last season and it is thought the stable had up to 60 for the champion owner this term.

However, Mullins confirmed on Wednesday morning that Gigginstown had decided to remove their horses. The decision was taken after the trainer raised his training fees. It is believed that Gigginstown pay a set monthly training fee to all their trainers.

The Irish Field has seen a letter sent by Mullins to his owners which says the daily training fee will rise from €50 to €55 from October 1st.

Mullins told At The Races: "We're parting company - it's basically over fees, I imagine. I put up my fees for the first time in 10 years and Gigginstown chose not to pay them. That's it, we're just parting company.

"I'm not willing to try to maintain the standards I have (without putting the fees up), so that's the way it is."

Mullins went on: "Everyone that comes into my yard is treated the same. I see enough people going to the wall in Ireland all the time. We've evolved our methods of training, which obviously costs a lot, and we're not prepared to sacrifice that.

"They've been very good to us over the years, they've bought some fantastic horses and there's a fantastic team of horses going to whoever is going to get them, I don't know where they are going to go.

"It's only been in the last few hours this has come about. I wish them the best, it's the way it is, we move on.

"Whoever gets the horses will be a big challenge to me being champion trainer, they are a fantastic team of horses. They'll be very hard horses to replace. Even with all the money in the world, lots of people try to buy horses like that, but sometimes they just happen.

"We've put together a fantastic team with Eddie O'Leary and ourselves but that's it. It's there now and the team is there for someone else to train."

It is understood that Gordon Elliott, Henry de Bromhead, Noel Meade, Joseph O'Brien and Mouse Morris will receive some of the horses leaving the Mullins yard.

Elliott told the Irish Independent he is set to receive 20 of the Gigginstown horses removed form Mullins. "I've been told that I will get about 20 horses, including Don Poli, Apple's Jade, Lucky Pass, Outlander and Blow By Blow."

Bookmaker Paddy Power has promoted Elliott to favourite to be champion Irish trainer.

Gigginstown has never been afraid to move horses as it showed when ending its association with trainers Tony Martin and Sandra Hughes at the end of last season. Michael O'Leary and his brother Eddie, his racing manager, say that they reward trainers who produce results and move horses from trainers who do not meet expectations.

Willie Mullins has been champion Irish trainer every year since the 2008-'09 season. In Ireland last season Mullins had 185 winners including 20 Grade 1 wins. He also came within a whisker of being champion trainer in Britain. Last season Gigginstown provided roughly 15% of Mullins' winners in Ireland.

Gigginstown House Stud was the leading owner in Ireland and Britain, the UK title coming their way courtesy of a Gold Cup win by Don Cossack (trained by Gordon Elliott) and the Grand National triumph by Rule The World (Mouse Morris).

In a statement issued to RTÉ Sport, Gigginstown said: "As Gigginstown House Stud has been unable to reach agreement with Willie Mullins on an increase in training fees, we have agreed - with considerable regret - to move the Gigginstown horses to alternative trainers for the coming 2016/17 season.

"Gigginstown wishes to sincerely thank Willie and all the team at Closutton for the many Grade 1 races we have won together over the past seven years. We hope that an agreement can be reached at some time in the future which will allow Willie to resume buying and training more graded winners for us.

"While we part at this time with regret, we wish Willie and all the team at Closutton continued success.”

WILLIE MULLINS TOP MONEY EARNERS

FOR GIGGINSTOWN HOUSE STUD

Sir Des Champs €583,298

Don Poli €494,430

Valseur Lido €316,713

Outlander €206,582

Apple's Jade €183,283

Devils Bride €147,842

Petite Parisienne €144,441

McKinley €141,117

Un Atout €83,327

Roi Des Francs €80,572

Measureofmydreams €72,909

Blow By Blow €74,145

Gangster €44,370

A Toi Phil €34,170

Arkwrisht €36,536

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