Three major safety changes have been made to this year’s Grand National. Dickon White from The Jockey Club revealed more details about the three “fundamental” changes that have been made ahead of Saturday’s event. Speaking on BBC Breakfast today (11 April), Mr White said: “The first involves the first fence. We looked at that and wanted to reduce the speed of the horses jumping the fence and we have actually picked the fence up and moved it nearer to the start.” Mr White also revealed how the maximum field size of runners has been reduced from 40 to 34 this year. The start time of the race has also been brought forward to 4pm “to ensure optimum racing conditions”.