Star Tasmanian galloper The Cleaner will make the shorter trip to the Mornington Cup rather than Sydney after finishing in front of Melbourne Cup winner and runner-up in the Australian Cup.

Trainer Mick Burles said he could not have been happier with The Cleaner who ran fourth in Saturday's 2000m $1 million Australian Cup.

"I'm over the moon with him, rapt with him," Burles told AAP.

"I said if he ran in the first four I'd be happy.

"Twelve top horses he beat home and two surprise horses won the race they didn't think would."

The top honours went to the David Hayes and Tom Dabernig training partnership's Spillway and Extra Zero in one of the closest results in the race's history, while favourite Happy Trails took the minor placing.

Protectionist and Red Cadeaux, the 2014 Melbourne Cup quinella, finished eighth and fifth respectively.

The Cleaner is nominated for the $3 million Doncaster Mile (2000m) on April 4 and the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) a week later at Randwick.

But Burles is favouring a run in the Listed $350,000 Mornington Cup on March 28 instead of making the trip to Sydney for the Group Ones, depending on the weights.

"If they give him too much weight I won't," he said.

"I got him nominated in Sydney but I'm not much interested. It's too much travelling."

A trip to Sydney would mean an 11-hour ferry ride plus nine hours in a truck.

"He'd fly but I don't want to go through that again, not for his sake," Burles said.

The Cleaner finished ninth in the Railway Stakes last November after flying to Perth. He finished second first-up to Tasmanian three-year-old Admiral in the listed George Adams Plate in Launceston last month.