McEntee hoping veteran Jonnie can turn back the clock

You would think the handicapper might have the measure of an 11-year-old having his 202nd race, but Jonnie Skull could just have been let in lightly.

That is the view of Phil McEntee, who believes there is still plenty of life in the veteran despite a modest 2016 campaign that might have had some contemplating retirement for a 21-time winner who has been racing since 2008.

"He's ran okay once or twice but for some reason at the age of ten he started having foot problems," the trainer said on Monday. "He kept getting abscesses and I never really had a clear run with him.

"We took his shoes off for six months and went back to scratch. The farrier has done a great job with him and we've had no issues with his feet at all throughout the whole year, so the plan is to have another summer with him. He seems to be loving life at home."

McEntee warned that Jonnie Skull is likely to need the race when he resumes in the mile handicap at Brighton on Tuesday in the hands of Josephine Gordon.

But he said: "We're hoping he'll show something even though he might blow up. As long as he pings the lids and travels and shows us he's still in love with the game we'll keep going.

"Then the plan is we're going to target Yarmouth, Brighton and Fakenham through the summer.

"At the age of 11 he's found himself well handicapped. He's rated 44 and I've got horses in my yard who've had 40 runs and haven't won a race who are rated higher than that. The theory is he'll either be no good and we'll decide he's had enough or he'll rattle up a bit of a sequence."