Dave Nevison's Aintree tips: 50-1 pick among Day Two bets

This is possibly the tightest handicap of the year, and there is very little between the entire field on ratings.

The angle for me is to find one that is coming via a different route, and Emid’io Pepe looks interesting. I cannot believe Dan Skelton hasn’t had this race in mind for a while, and he hasn’t wanted to ruin his handicap mark by giving him a prep run. 

He returned to his best form in December at Pau when winning a handicap off a rating of 125 by a narrow margin. His British handicap mark is 5lb higher, but introducing him in a race such as this, and over a new trip, suggests strongly that the Skelton team believe they have a nice prospect on their hands. 

Ballykinlar is another to look at, and is a big price (he's chalked up at 50-1, at the time of writing). He has moved from Donncha Duggan in Ireland to Mickey Bowen, and has only had one run for his new yard so far.

He finished 11th in the Martin Pipe at the Cheltenham Festival, but was only beaten 12 lengths, and was very much in contention prior to the last before fading. 

Mickey Bowen has had a winner in April, and it is heading towards the time of year the yard hits form, so I would be surprised if Ballykinlar didn’t improve now.

Gentleman De Mee is only 3lb higher than when winning this race last year (his second chase win at the track) and even though he only won narrowly, I think he would have won that race carrying 3lb more. 

His running style is ideal for the long, Aintree run in off a strong pace and, if anything, this race looks set to be run at a faster pace than last year. 

His efforts this season can all have a line put through them as he has clearly been aimed at this race all season, and has been running in graded races, purely to keep him ticking over. 

O’Moore Park is still a maiden over fences, and I am getting used to seeing his colours coming into the screen just after the placed horses have gone past the line. 

I believe this race could be the perfect opportunity for him, too, and the fast pace should also mean he is staying on better than most. 

He has looked very much as though he would be suited by a step up to three miles, but the nature of this race should bring out his best attributes. He can go well at big odds off a pound lower mark than last time. 

An Aintree winner for Tristan Durrell would cap off a magnificent season for the jockey, and it looks very much on the cards, with Harry Lowes appearing one of the few contenders that could be nicely treated here.

He was badly hampered on his only handicap run so far, and ran as well as could be expected, but has since won in decent style at Bangor. His mark has gone up just 3lb for that success, and he looks to have further improvement to come. 

This race was Dan Skelton’s only win of the meeting last year, and a repeat looks likely.