Jeremy Scott has been taken aback by the reaction to Dashel Drasher’s success in the Betfair Ascot Chase on Saturday.
In providing Scott with a first Grade One victory since Melodic Rendezvous in the 2013 Tolworth Hurdle, the eight-year-old continued his steep upward curve, winning his third race in succession – all at Ascot.
Whether he runs again this season, though, has still to be decided, with Scott considering the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham and the Bowl at Aintree.
“He’s come out of the race really well,” said Scott.
“Originally I wasn’t that keen to run him again as he’s had three hard races all in a row.
“We’ll look at Cheltenham, but I think that’s unlikely, possibly Aintree, but it’s very much a case of we’ll see how he goes.
“It’s very exciting, but when I looked through there are really very few options. There’s the possibility of Aintree, but he’d probably have to step up to three miles there. Obviously there’s the two-and-a-half-mile race, but on likely quicker ground and a tighter track it could be too sharp for him.
“It will all very much depend on the ground, I wouldn’t want to be running him on fastish ground.
Looking back on the weekend, the Somerset-based trainer said: “To a point I think we were lucky that we ended up in a race with one who was rated immeasurably higher (Cyrname) than the rest of us who were all rated pretty similar.
“The reaction has been absolutely outstanding. People love horses like him who always pull a bit more out of the bag. They really latch on them, it’s lovely.”
