Ascot or Newbury poser for Dashel Drasher

Nick Robson
February 17, 2021 5:00 pm

Jeremy Scott to decide weekend target.

Jeremy Scott was facing a sleepless night on Wednesday deciding whether to send stable star Dashel Drasher to Ascot or Newbury this weekend.

With two wins at Ascot over the two-mile-five-furlong trip of the Betfair Ascot Chase already under his belt this season, that might look the more suitable option. However, Scot is giving serious consideration to the rescheduled Grade Two Denman Chase at Newbury, which would mean a step up to three miles for the first time.

“We have still to decide where to go. He’s a shorter price for the Denman which would indicate somebody thinks he has a better chance in that,” said Scott.

“It’s whether we’d be disadvantaged by running at Newbury. At Ascot he’s won despite jumping a little left.

“If you’d asked me at the beginning of the season where would you rather run, I’d have said Newbury would suit him better.

“We ruled the Denman out originally as it was coming too soon after his last run, but then it reopened and it’s likely to be better ground.

“Would it be daft to run in the Denman? I don’t know, he has been very good around Ascot and it does suit him as he can swing down the hill and get enough back in the tank to come back up the hill. Maybe that suits him.

“If we hadn’t had the confusion of the Denman we’d definitely be at Ascot, as it’s an opportunity to run in a Grade One and if one or two underperformed and we upped our game then it would be happy days.”