Grand National rule change confirmed as chiefs U-turn before £1m race | Racing | Sport

A significant rule change has already been confirmed for this year’s Grand National. Reserves will now return to the race, just two years after they were blocked from competing.In a move that was criticised previously, it was ruled that reserves would not be able to line up in the £1million race at Aintree due to issues with technology. However, chiefs have now U-turned on that decision ahead of this year’s race on April 5.A series of major changes to the world-famous race have been implemented over the past few years with the goal of making the contest safer for runners and riders, which has included reducing the size of the field down from 40 to 34.With fewer horses taking part in the race, and therefore there being less congestion at each fence, it has been ruled that the smaller field size will not allow reserves to be reintroduced.Before the reserve system was stopped, those entering the race as a reserve would take the place of the horse they were replacing. Therefore, taking their racecard number.However, given that reserves would be further down the weights, there was plenty of confusion on the occasions where they would inherit a single-digit number previously held by one of the runners who were previously set to run under a higher weight.After the problem became more frequent, and the issue was raised by bookmakers, it emerged that the technology used was unable to register those numbered higher than 40 which was why that system remained in place.But with there being 34 runners in each race now, the chances of a runner needing a racecard number above 40 have been eliminated so reserves can be reinstated next month.Speaking about the change, Jockey Club Head of Racing Jon Pullin said: “We consistently monitor and evaluate every aspect of the Randox Grand National Festival to ensure its continued success.”After review, we have decided to reintroduce the reserves system for the Randox Grand National from 2025. In 2023, we announced several changes to the race, one of which being the reduction of field size from 40 to 34. As a result of this, some complications once faced around accommodating runners numbered beyond 40 are no longer so much of an issue.”



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