Horse racing-Grand National cuts number of horses, moves first fence for safety reasons

The number of horses participating in the 2024 Grand National will be reduced from 40 to 34, the Jockey Club said on Thursday, among other changes introduced for safety reasons.

The race, one of the highest-profile events in Britain's sporting calendar, regularly attracts criticism from animal rights groups who say it is cruel to horses, with many having died over the daunting fences down the years.

One horse, Hill Sixteen, was put down after a heavy fall at the first fence of this year's race, becoming the third horse to die at the three-day festival in April.

The start of the race was also delayed for around 15 minutes after animal rights protesters made their way on to the course.

"Insights from independent research papers, combined with The Jockey Club's own internal analysis of jump races evidences a direct correlation between the number of runners in a race and the risk of falling," the club said in a statement.

Organisers also decided to move the first fence 60 yards closer to the start to slow the early stages of the race.

"The speed of the horses participating in the race shows an increase in speed on average as the horses approach the first fence over the past 10 years," the statement read.

Horses will no longer be led by a handler during the pre-race parade, the Jockey Club added, and will instead be released at the end of the horsewalk to canter in front of the grandstands.

The 2024 race will take place from April 13.