The Caulfield Cup-winning trainer said he and his clientele were incensed by online reports that he would retire after Saturday's meeting at Moonee Valley.

Vasil, 51, left Victoria two months ago in a bid to overcome depression and last week announced that he would be taking extended leave from his 35-strong team at Caulfield.

However, reports that Vasil was retiring moved the trainer to publicly quash talk of him leaving racing after nearly four decades.

"I'm here in Queensland, I'm getting the very best of help for my illness that is sometimes hard to identify,'' he said.

"But when you're trying to recover from a sickness that can be so often time consuming in trying to overcome it, you are confronted with nonsense that you have two days left in racing.

"I was inundated with nearly 100 text messages confused about my future, so I believe it's important that the racing industry on a whole, from my long-time clients through to the stewards, know that my full intention is to come back to training," Vasil said.

Aquanita, the syndicators, wrote to clients of Vasil last week to say the trainer would be taking leave, but was unable to estimate how long he would be away from Caulfield .

"It's not a matter of days, it's a matter of months,'' the statement said. ''We [Aquanita] have asked Tony to take as much time as he would like to get over this terrible setback.

"His horses will be transferred to Robert Smerdon, who, like Vasil's owners, are perfectly agreeable to the temporary move.''

Vasil said he was still monitoring his team in Melbourne from Queensland, still overseeing worksheets and the placement of some of the horses.

"It's not as if I've turned my back on the game, far from it. It's more been a case of, I've taken a step back but still I have the pangs for racing. Of course I can't watch one of mine on the TV and see it win and not get excited.

"That's what we aspire to: training horses to win races and then see the ultimate enjoyment their owners get from winning.

"I can tell you, I'm still very fond of what I do, but I just want to beat this damn depression."

Vasil said he was also upset that a report claimed he was moving from Melbourne after his Caulfield home was put on sale.

"This is what makes me really upset,'' he said. ''I'd planned to put the house up for sale as far back as last year. It's a two-storey home with four bedrooms and I've already bought another place in Brighton, so I can't work out what all the fuss is about.

"I'm totally determined to beat this illness. And when I'm not getting treatment, of course my heart is still with my horses. I started riding trackwork at 15 and it's been my complete and utter lifestyle ever since.

"I have still a lot to offer, but as those close to me have agreed, let's get on top of the depression and beat that for once and for all. And then, and only then, we'll will work out what's going on with the business.

"Why these reports are so upsetting is that you're asking me and my professional help to measure how long before I'm back or will it be hours, days or months.

"All I know is that when I beat this I'll be a far more complete person and ready for challenges that come along."

Smerdon said Vasil's horses were in a transitional period of moving under his name at his Caulfield stable.

A long-time friend of Vasil's, Smerdon said he, too, was dumbfounded by reports of the former leading apprentice of the 1970s deciding to leave racing.

"The rules haven't changed at any time. We want Tony to get better, but it's ridiculous to put a time limit when you are battling such a dreadful illness as depression.

"He has a loyal band of owners who are in total agreement that time away from racing will be a contributing feature of his recovery and so we've just got to hope that it all comes good and I'm sure it will.''