15:10 Kelso

Monday 8 April 2019

All14:1014:4015:1015:4016:1016:4017:10

Borders Carers Centre Handicap Chase

Off time: 15:11 | Winning time: 5m 38.40s

Ueueteotl^b²³

Age: 11| Weight: 12-1| J: Steven Fox⁽⁵⁾| T: J Ewart| OR: 106

5/1

Without a win since June 2016 (3m, Hexham); has filled the minor honours on his last two starts, beaten 18L by Newberry New at Newcastle (2m7f, heavy) 23-days ago.

Form: 373-632

The Road Home^p1,t¹⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: D R Fox| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell| OR: 103

15/2

Has found the frame on each of his last couple of starts (2m4f+ at Musselburgh), and is evidently at home on a sound surface; finished 8L third to Sporting Press latest; cheekpieces added to tongue-tie; holds every chance.

Form: 0-45P23

Billy Hicks^p1¹⁴⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 11-12| J: David England| T: S Drinkwater| OR: 103

8/1

Dual hurdles scorer in March 2017 (2m-2m3f+); connections have sought to exploit a marginally lower handicap mark over fences; poor third to Le Coeur Net at Ffos Las (2m, heavy) in November; cheekpieces are applied on first start for 148-days.

Form: 2645-43

Opechee¹¹⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 11-9| J: Mr Aiden Blakemore⁽⁷⁾| T: L Egerton| OR: 100

28/1

Decisive Stratford winner (2m3f, good) for David Bridgwater in August 2018; has lost his way more latterly, and moved on for a mere £600 last month.

Form: 1U424P

Charlie Snow Angel^t²³

Age: 10| Weight: 11-6| J: Jamie Hamilton| T: Miss S E Forster| OR: 97| C

6/1

Won on this card in 2018, beating Halcyon Days by 2¼L in the 2m1f Cl 4 handicap chase (heavy); refused to race at Newcastle in January but runner-up on a couple of occasions since, including when beaten a nose by Fly Rory Fly (C&D); key player.

Form: 5P3R22

Lovely Schtuff²³

Age: 7| Weight: 11-6| J: Henry Brooke| T: Mrs J Stephen| OR: 97

7/1

Stablemate of Highland Peak; nine-race maiden under rules and falling sharply down the handicap as a result; unseated his rider at the third fence at Newcastle (2m4f, heavy) latest.

Form: 74556U

Cool Valley¹⁰

Age: 10| Weight: 10-13| J: Sam Coltherd⁽³⁾| T: W Young Jnr| OR: 90

16/1

19-race rules maiden; knocking at the door on a sound racing surface at Musselburgh (2m-2m4f) during the month of February; not so effective since and hardly has the most appealing of overall profiles.

Form: 342235

Flying Jack^t²⁹

Age: 9| Weight: 10-9| J: Dale Irving⁽³⁾| T: M A Barnes| OR: 86

9/1

Has generally struggled over fences (0-10), and it's only a shade of odds-on that he'll actually complete (has fallen on a couple of occasions as well as running out); 9lb lower than when winning over hurdles at Hexham (2m4f) in August 2017.

Form: F-F633P

Mrs Vonn²⁹

Age: 7| Weight: 10-6| J: Thomas Willmott⁽⁷⁾| T: W Coltherd| OR: 83

20/1

Eight-race rules maiden; started 40/1 when finishing an 8L runner-up to Briac at Sedgefield (2m3f, good to soft) in January; poor in two starts since; easy to ignore.

Form: 77924P

Highland Peak⁷¹

Age: 7| Weight: 10-4| J: Callum Bewley| T: Mrs J Stephen| OR: 81

16/1

Stablemate of Lovely Schtuff; ten-race hurdles maiden, and little to enthuse about over fences either (0-2); well beaten fifth at Sedgefield (2m3f, soft) in January, albeit that race has produced winners since.

Form: 8B7845

Left Back^t³⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 10-0| J: Mr C J Robertson⁽¹⁰⁾| T: N W Alexander| OR: 76

6/1

PTP winner; struggling to find any productive form over fences, and has plenty to find with Charlie Snow Angel based on C&D form from early March; his riders 10lb claim helps offset his position just outside of the handicap proper.

Form: 3-665F3

Grimthorpe^h⁸⁵

Age: 8| Weight: 10-0| J: Ross Chapman| T: Miss T Jackson| OR: 73

33/1

Arguably is unexposed over fences (0-2), but that's being generous as he's evidently also very light on ability; likely to race prominently and weaken; not the solution.

Form: PP-005F

Jackofhearts¹²⁶

Age: 11| Weight: 10-0| J: Sean Quinlan| T: Mrs J C McGregor| OR: 72

66/1

34-race maiden (0-17 over fences); reserves his 'better efforts' for Perth; will almost certainly need this race off a 126-day absence, and quite simply is nowhere near good enough in any case.

Form: 54-2PPP

Non-Runners

Westend Theatre¹³

Weight: 10-0| Age: 10

T: Mrs J Walton J: C O'Farrell

Forecasts

Ueueteotl (5/1), Charlie Snow Angel (6/1), Left Back (6/1), Lovely Schtuff (7/1), The Road Home (15/2), Billy Hicks (8/1), Flying Jack (9/1), Highland Peak (16/1), Cool Valley (16/1), Mrs Vonn (20/1), Westend Theatre (25/1), Opechee (28/1), Grimthorpe (33/1), Jackofhearts (66/1)

A low-grade contest which will make only limited appeal to punters. Without being a necessarily confident shout, the most likely winner would appear to be Sandy Forster's veteran CHARLIE SNOW ANGEL. He has plenty of previous Kelso form on his CV, and found only Fly Rory Fly stronger over C&D recently. If electing to play, and purely as a precaution, it's worth waiting to check that he elects to jump off before getting involved. Others with possible claims include Ueueteotl and The Road Home.