Jeremy Scott’s Dashel Drasher could briefly resume his chasing career after his placed run in the Howden Long Walk Hurdle.

The fan favourite, now 11 years old, had a lucrative spell in staying hurdles last season but is also a well-regarded chaser with four successes over fences on his CV – including the Grade One Ascot Chase.

Second in the Relkeel Hurdle, the Cleeve Hurdle and the Stayers’ Hurdle last season, the latter a placing gained upon appeal, the gelding returned to action this term to finish third in the bet365 Hurdle at Wetherby in November.

He then headed to Newbury for the Long Distance Hurdle, a Grade Two event he won by a head from fellow veteran Paisley Park – another stalwart of the division.

Both horses lined up for the Long Walk to give Fergal O’Brien’s Crambo a run for his money, with the young horse coming out on top as Paisley Park was second behind him and Dashel Drasher in third place.

Scott could now call on his stable star’s versatility as the horse’s next outing could either be a hurdle start or a brief return to chasing, though both paths will likely lead to the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

“He’s doing really well. He did pull a muscle, I think over the last hurdle because he went quite long there, so we’ve had a little hold-up there,” said Scott.

“That’s probably neither here nor there and we’ve sorted that out, so he’s fighting fit for the end of the month or the beginning of next month.

“He could either go back to the Cleeve (Hurdle, at Cheltenham) or go for the Denman (Chase, at Newbury), I’ve a notion to do that.”

Should Dashel Drasher head for the Denman he may meet Nicky Henderson’s Shishkin and Paul Nicholls’ Bravemansgame, with the going pivotal to the decision made.

“It’s just a matter of the timing and the ground as to which direction we go in, but he’s very well at the moment and one of those is the plan,” Scott said.

“I’d imagine he’d go for the Stayer’s Hurdle either way, there’s nothing for him over fences really at Cheltenham, only the Gold Cup and I wouldn’t quite think he was up to that.”

With ground conditions drying out ahead of Saturday’s 1965 Chase, Dashel Drasher looks set to sidestep the Ascot feature and instead head to Newbury next weekend.

Jeremy Scott’s stable star won the Grade One Ascot Chase two years ago and is a four-time winner from six starts at the Berkshire circuit overall.

Following a satisfactory comeback run when third over hurdles at Wetherby earlier in the month, Scott was keen to send his charge back over the larger obstacles on Saturday – but unsuitable ground, coupled with the likely presence of the brilliant Shishkin, has led to the trainer having a change of heart.

He said: “We’ll have to see what the ground does, but it doesn’t look like there’s much rain around. I think running him over fences, I’d rather be running on the slow side of good and not end up on good ground. That would be our thinking at the moment.

“It’s been so wet and now there’s no rain around. My concern is we end up with a month or six weeks of dry weather, which we’re kind of due, and it will mess all our plans up – but there we are, we can’t do anything about the weather, can we?”

Considering alternative plans, Scott added: “We have Newbury next weekend, where we could run in the hurdle (Long Distance Hurdle). The other thing is it’s actually only three weeks since he ran, so it wouldn’t hurt if we waited another week anyway.

“I was desperately keen to run over fences, but the ground has got to be right, and it’s not helped by Shishkin running either.

“All of these things come into it, but I was keen to run over fences because I think he’s got more to give over fences. The trouble is, after this race on Saturday, you’ve got nothing else other than handicaps until after Christmas.”

Dashel Drasher could make his next start over fences after a hurdling comeback at Wetherby.

The popular 10-year-old has switched between the two divisions throughout the last few seasons and has enjoyed plenty of success over both types of obstacles.

He was second to Grand National winner Noble Yeats in the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree last December and was then runner-up in a trio of high-quality Cheltenham hurdles, culminating in the Grade One Stayers’ Hurdle at the Festival, where he was beaten only three-quarters of a length by Sire Du Berlais.

Jeremy Scott’s charge started the new season at Wetherby this month, contesting the Grade Two bet365 Hurdle and starting as the 7-4 joint-favourite under Rex Dingle.

He led for much of the way and showed plenty of vim, only fading approaching the last and eventually finishing third behind Botox Has and Red Risk.

A switch to chasing could be next on the agenda, with the 1965 Chase at Ascot under consideration if the gelding is ready to go again at the end of the month.

“He’s really well, he probably just got a bit stuck in the mud the other day, maybe it’s just age catching up with him as well,” Scott said of the Wetherby run.

“He’s certainly come out of the race really well and there is a chase at Ascot in a few weeks’ time which is a possibility, but it is quite difficult finding races for him.

“I was very much thinking we’d play it by ear, I’d like to run him back over fences because I think he was just as effective over them.

“It would be nice to find a Grade Two that we could run him in but they’ve taken a lot of them away, last year we ran in the Many Clouds but they’ve taken that away, so it’s difficult to find him somewhere to go unless you run in a handicap.

“He’s never lacking for will, he’s always just a bit stuffy on his first run but I’m very happy with the way he’s come out of the race and we’re just hunting around for the next plan.

“We’ll see how he is when we start doing some proper work – and if we can go to Ascot, that would be great.”