Wednesday’s Racing Tips – Westlain can put a stop to the in form Nicky Henderson yard

Havaila didn't put in the best round of jumping today, but didn't stay on as strongly as I thought he would.

I mentioned how he stayed well at Windsor over a much longer trip, so to see him weak in the finish was a big surprise. He might've bounced on the back of his return from 200 days and a good run at Windsor, as normally he gets much closer to the eventual winner, but this time he was miles behind.

Theonewedreamof 9/2 (1pt) – Ludlow 3.05

Even though there is only 1lb different in the weights from the last time these met, I think Theonewedreamof will get the better of Party Vibes this time around.

Party Vibes and Theonewedreamof were both underwhelming on their next starts, so it questions was whether the form of the Cheltenham run was good. Personally, I think the quick turnaround for Theonewedreamof was the reason for the lacklustre effort. The run at Hereford came seven days after the Cheltenham effort, which would have taken a fair chunk out of her.

They've given the horse a decent rest since the two quick runs, and I think we'll see her return to form. Turning for home, she was travelling beautifully under Harry Skelton at Cheltenham, and it was a surprise that the horse didn't get the job done. She has still got plenty of time to progress over fences, and has done well for the majority of her races since moving to Dan Skelton's yard.

Westlain 2/1 (1pt) – Ludlow 4.05

It seems that Nicky Henderson has got his horses firing just before the big meetings in the spring, so his runner, Diamonds galore has to be heavily respected. That horse has finished as runner-up on her last two runs, with her best effort coming last time out over 2m 5f. The drop in trip might not suit, so I fancied going against her with the juvenile, Westlain.

Westlain has been given a handicap mark of 118 on the back of his easy success last time out at Huntingdon. His mark is definitely inflated, but I thought he was impressive on his last start, and a repeat performance would probably be good enough to get a third win this season.

He was strong in the market at Huntindon, after going off at odds of 60/1, 40/1 and 16/1 on his previous three starts, so they knew he was in good form and capable of winning races like that.

He showed that he handles a soft surface and a fast track, so Ludlow should be perfectly fine for him, with the venues sharing some similarities.

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