held up in touch, under pressure 5 out, soon weakened, behind when pulled up 2 out
tracked leaders, jumped left throughout, ridden 12th, weakened 4 out, behind when pulled up before last
tracked winner, driven and reminders halfway, lost place 11th, headway after 2 out, soon chasing clear winner, no chance
made all, 5 lengths clear 13th, mistake 3 out, eased down after last, unchallenged
A 4lb rise for his win at Sedgefield earlier this month is perfectly fair for Teerie Express but the nine-year-old faces no easy task against Tim Easterby's BORDER REIVER, who is preferred and gets the vote with Scottish Munros rated the best of the rest. The selection is better than he showed at Newcastle behind Its Teescomponents when last seen in January and he looks well worth chancing racing off the same mark today, especially with the Easterby stable among the winners of late. Harry Flashman is hard to recommend on recent form and of more interest may be Of Course, who makes his debut over fences having won a handicap hurdle here in good fashion in November and losing no caste in defeat over timber on his only subsequent start at the beginning of the month at Sedgefield. Brian Storey's Le Platino won well at Kelso in November but gave little sign of encouragement on his chasing debut last month and he looks best watched. Don McCain's Scottish Munros is less exposed than his rivals after just six career starts and has to be considered but Border Reiver has solid claims and can give Tim Easterby another winner.
Border Reiver 15-2 (10-6) Tracked leaders, outpaced 4 out, soon weakened, 8th of 12, 47l behind Its Teescomponents (10-1) at Newcastle 3m hcp chs 0-130 (3) sft in Jan.
Of Course (FR) 9-2fav (10-10) Took keen hold, soon tracked leader, chased new leader from 9th, led narrowly 2 out, kept slight advantage, joined last, headed and no extra flat, 2nd of 8, 4l behind Oniz Tiptoes (10-8) at Sedgefield 3m 3f hcp hdl 0-110 (4) sft.
Scottish Munros 16-1 (10-8) Tracked leaders in 4th when fell 5th, in a race won by Blazing Diva (10-9) at Newcastle 3m nov hcp chs 0-115 (4) sft, 4 ran.
Teerie Express 10-1 (10-6) Led until not fluent and headed 3rd, stayed prominent, led on long run to 3 out, 2 lengths clear when hit last, kept on flat, all out, won at Sedgefield 2m 4f hcp chs 0-95 (5) sft beating Kinkeel (10-6) by 1 1/2l, 12 ran.
Harry Flashman 14-1 (10-5) Held up in touch, chasing leaders when mistake 5 out, weakening when hit 3 out, 6th of 9, 27l behind Categorical (11-2) at Ayr 3m 1f hcp chs 0-125 (3) gf.
Le Platino (GER) 22-1 (11-10) Hampered start, held up, mid-division, blundered 11th, weakened from 5 out, pulled up before next, in a race won by Silver Dollars (10-6) at Musselburgh 2m 4f nov hcp chs 0-115 (4) gd in Feb, 11 ran.
