La Sarrazine has the potential to surprise Festival winner Menorah

2.00 John Smith's Top Novice Hurdle Religious devotion to Cheltenham form can often carry you over a cliff at Aintree and La Sarrazine , the best bet on day two, can reinforce the point. Only six of the last 18 winners of this contest had been in action at Cheltenham and a number of big Festival names have been turned over in recent years. Menorah has an obvious chance on the strength of his victory there but a previous defeat at Ascot proved he was not bomb-proof. La Sarrazine gets a useful looking 7lb mares' allowance in this contest and made light work of experienced rivals in a handicap at Doncaster at the start of last month, despite it being just her third start over hurdles. 2.35 Matalan Mildmay Novice Chase Burton Port could be another Cheltenham bogey runner, but Festival winners have a much better record in this contest and he holds the clear edge over many of these rivals on form. Knockara Beau made a series of jumping errors when just behind the selection in the RSA Chase last time but may prefer softer conditions in any case. 3.10 John Smith's Melling Chase A tricky contest, given that Albertas Run is anything but certain to repeat his latest effort. Horses that have run in the Champion Chase have a fine record in this contest and Forpadydeplasterer and Kalahari King both have strong claims stepped up in trip, with preference narrowly for the latter. 3.45 John Smith's Topham Trophy Some interesting contenders, including the lightly weighted Qhilimar who will win more races, the improving novice Diablo and Plaisir D'Estruval, who has been plotted up for this. However the vote goes to In Compliance , who is classy at his best and has a nice weight on his early-season form. 4.20 Sefton Novice Hurdle This is another wide-open heat. Phidippides knuckled down well to beat Quantitativeeasing in a sprint finish last time, but he would have been no better suited by the lack of early pace than the horses he beat and can improve. Chamirey and Wayward Prince are others to consider.