Aintree Grand National meeting: first day

there are 5 meetings today, but only one of them really counts- Aintree, where it is the first day of the Grand National meeting. In terms of quality this meeting now equals the Cheltenham Festival and numerous winners and also-rans from the Cotswolds are running again here.
The very first race, the Grade One Liverpool Hurdle over 3 miles, at 15.00 CET, is one of the highlights of the week, starring Big Bucks (Paul Nicholls/ Ruby Walsh), who is going for an unprecedented 17th successive win. He has won the World Hurdle at Cheltenham for the past 4 years and is now going for his 4th win here, and in theory at least he looks a certainty, having already beaten most of these opponents. On official ratings, he has 13 lbs in hand and it will be the shock of the meeting if he fails today. Nicholls saddles two more runners, Poungach (Daryl Jacob) and Tidal Bay (Nick Scholfield), and they could both run into the money, but Smad Place (Alan King/ Robert Thornton), third at Cheltenham, looks the most likely candidate for second place.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Big Buck`S - Smad Place - Tidal Bay
2. Race: Grumeti - Countrywide Flame - Pearl Swan
3. Race: Riverside Theatre - Burton Port - Medermit
4. Race: Gwanako - My Way De Solzen - Cloudy Lane
5. Race: Edgardo Sol - Tanks For That - Kumbeshwar
6. Race: Al Ferof - Menorah - Pepite Rose
7. Race: Gullinbursti - Son Of Flicka - Cape Tribulation