Owen sacks his trainer

Manchester United striker Michael Owen has sacked Nicky Vaughan as trainer at the footballer's Manor House Stables in Cheshire.

Vaughan was informed of his dismissal by Owen's mother, Jeanette, after Owen had spoken to other members of staff at the £8 million yard near Malpas via a conference call.

Owen, currently on tour with his new club in the Far East, is believed to be unsatisfied with the lack of success achieved by horses from the stables.

Vaughan told the Daily Mail: "It was a shot from the blue.

"I haven't spoken to Michael, everything has been done by his mother. Working with high profile people, these things are always likely to happen.The next person who comes in, it might be him too. That's life.

"I have another meeting on Friday but apparently they have told the staff there is someone coming in the next 10 to 12 days."

Manor House Stables opened in 2007 and it produced 22 winners over its first two seasons, but this year there have been just five winners, the most recent being Supercast at Goodwood on June 5.



The stable's owner roster boasts several other Premier League footballers in addition to Owen (pictured, left, with former Newcastle team-mate Shay Given). Paul Scholes, Jonathan Woodgate and Nicky Butt all have horses there, as does Owen's former manager at Newcastle, Alan Shearer.
Tony Mabert / Eurosport

One week with Utd and already behaving like a c#@%

LOL...Now,now Toony....he's at a decent club, maybe Fergie convinced him to move on!!!

www.manorhousestables.com

What an impressive venue!

Brown jnr and Kannemeyer must be sweating

tony you must be besides yourself with excitement awaiting your clashes with the likes of peterborough

Dinny worry tony, Gazza is making a comeback.

Was thinking that shrewed Fergusson signed him to get some tips.

Fergie is no mug, it cracks me up how owen has started scoring goals again?

As widely expected, Michael Owen is to team up with trainer Tom Dascombe at the Manchester United star's Manor House Stables in Cheshire.

Lambourn-based Dascombe is regarded as a rising star of the game, and Betfair founder Andrew Black will also be involved, having reportedly bought a 50-50 stake in Owen's establishment.

Owen told the Racing Post: "All things start small. But we completed two state-of-the-art new American barns three months ago, and having a trainer of Tom's calibre gives us the chance to take this to a new level."

Dascombe added: "This is a big challenge, but it's a lot more than taking up a job as salaried trainer. At the moment I run a successful business as a trainer in Lambourn and I'm taking that business up to Cheshire to try to take the whole thing forward.

"Although I've had good winners, I could always struggle on my own. Michael Owen can struggle on his own. He and Bert (Black) have formed a partnership and I'll be working with that partnership."

Owen Bred the first two winners at Utoxeter today..