The Aintree Grand National festival gets under way on Thursday and I’m looking forward to it nearly as much as the Cheltenham Festival. After having a look through the cards for the three-day meeting I am confident I have found a few value bets. The early market for the Doom Bar Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle (2.20) looks all wrong to me. This has long been the plan for the striking Monmiral, but in my opinion he doesn’t deserve to be as short as he is. He has the potential to be a star, but he still looks very raw and beating Nassalam – who has since finished a well-beaten tenth in the Boodles – probably doesn’t look as good form now as it did at the time.