• Trainer insists there is no chance of him retiring
• JP McManus still has 15 horses in training at Jackdaws Castle

Jonjo O’Neill seems as puzzled as anyone else about the shortage in recent seasons of big-race winners from his yard, formerly a reliable source of contenders in Gold Cups and Grand Nationals. But there was a big presence of well-heeled people and good‑looking horses at his preseason owners’ day on Sunday and a lot of work has gone into recruiting both, testament to the fact that the 67-year-old trainer is in no mood to let his career wind down.

“When you lose the good horses they leave a big hole and when the young horses don’t fill their place, you lapse for a year or two,” O’Neill said after parading around 40 of the 110 animals at his Gloucestershire base. “That’s the way it goes. There’s nothing you can do about that. It happens and it hits you before you realise. Then you’ve got to get off your backside and get some more horses.”

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