“He’s entered Friday and is a possible,” he said. “There is a £100,000 (€147,000) handicap at Cheltenham the week after (boylepoker.com Chase, December 8), and if it’s bottomless ground on Friday, we could think about that – it’s worth a fair bit of money.

“The intention is to run on Friday, but he has a Grade One penalty. He’s fit and well wherever he goes.”

Star De Mohaison did not take his chance in last weekend’s Hennessy Gold Cup but Nicholls was keen not to dwell on what might have been.

“The ground was definitely on the soft side and we would have been a bit jittery about running him, but there’s no point looking back,” he said.

Denman will be trying to follow the path trodden by Star De Mohaison last year at the festivals, but will not be seen for a while despite looking a picture after maintaining his unbeaten record over fences at Newbury on Sunday.

“He came out this morning as bright as a button with his tail in the air and has probably come out of this race better than any of his races this season,” said Nicholls.

“He’s probably fitter, but I still don’t think we will run him again until the spring. He will probably have one run before Cheltenham, although you wouldn’t worry if he didn’t have a run as he goes well fresh.

“He’s won three and I want to go to Cheltenham and Aintree with him.”

Desert Quest will not be returning just yet either, having flopped in Saturday’s “Fighting Fifth Hurdle” at Newcastle, and Nicholls puts it down to travelling.

“Twice we’ve sent him overnight and twice he’s run a shocker, at Aintree and Newcastle,” he said.

“I don’t think it was just the ground as he was beaten after the first. I think maybe we just don’t want to send him away overnight for whatever reason and he’ll be back in the spring.”