Weighing-room veteran Andrew Thornton believes trying to get the Grand National field to watch their speed in the early stages is easier said than done.

The problem of early pace is among new guidelines issued to riders by Aintree and the Professional Jockeys Association.

Neither body wants a repeat of last year's race when there were two false starts and two fatalities, including the death of Gold Cup winner Synchronised.

The start has been moved forward 90 yards further away from the stands in an attempt to keep the horses as calm as possible.

To that end, horses will be sorted into number order in the paddock and not on the track before they parade.

Gold Cup-winning jockey Thornton is a PJA safety officer and has ridden regularly in the National since 1996.

"They say, 'slow down', from the start but when you get 40 horses together, it's not quite that easy," he said.

"Personally, I don't think there as been much of a problem at the start. It was the start last year because of what happened.

"A lot of horses were getting buzzed up because they had been down there a long time. It was circumstances.

"We are trying to solve a problem after what happened last year.

"We'll tweak the parade as well and see how we get on."