Media reports suggest Neptune Collonges will be retired at the end of this season. However, the ten-year-old race horse, who finished third behind Kauto Star and Denman in the 2008 Gold Cup, is expected to compete in the Grand National at Aintree in April 2012.

Owner John Hales has also confirmed that he will retire Noland, who won the Supreme Novices Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2006 after a Christmas cracker in the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day.

The pair have won almost £1m in prize money for Hales, and the owner admitted: “This will certainly be their last season,” Mr Hales told the Shropshire Star. “They have had wonderful careers and I want to make sure they have wonderful retirements.”

The two horses are believed to have won almost £1 million in prize money for their owner during their racing careers.

According to reports, three-time Grand National winner Jason Maguire may be out of action for three months following an injury that took place at the weekend.

The injury, sustained at Cartmel on August 27, is reported to be more serious than initially thought.

He was airlifted to hospital at the time but was reportedly told that his shoulder injury wasn’t too serious.

However, a return visit to hospital later that night suggested the damage may prevent Maguire from competing for up to three months. He was fitted with a neck brace before being discharged a second time.

“I was sure there was something up,” he told The Telegraph. “The plan is to get another specialist to have a look at the X-rays then we’ll find out what needs to be done.”

Maguire has achieved 49 winners since the beginning of the jumps season, second only to Tony McCoy, who currently has 89 wins to his name.

In addition to the changes that will be made to toe boards and fences at Aintree Racecourse, there are calls for the BBC to re-evaluate its coverage of the 2012 Grand National.

Reports suggest the use of the broadcaster’s aerial camera may be ‘reigned in’ at future events. During the 2011 meeting, BBC broadcast pictures of two horses killed during the race via its airborne camera, arousing a great deal of controversy from animal rights groups.

These tragic pictures were later used by the tabloids to shock viewers into buying copies of their newspapers.

Rather than stopping the race and removing the bodies, organisers covered the corpses with tarpaulin, and other riders were rerouted to avoid what the BBC described at the time as “obstacles”.

Defending its actions, a spokesperson for the broadcaster said: “We were aware of the unfortunate events of the two fatalities. During the race and the re-run this was covered with as much sensitivity as possible.

“Clare [Balding] was also most sensitive in her reporting of the incidents and even touched on it in her closing links to the programme.”

Following the death of two horses during the Aintree Grand National meeting in April, the Aintree executive and British Horseracing Authority have decided to make some alterations to the course’s fences.

The officials analysed every race run over the fences since 1990, when the last changes were made. The data showed that the first, fourth and sixth (Becher’s Brook) fences led to the highest proportion of accidents, with a 21%, 12.6% and 21% share, respectively.

The changes will include a four to five inch height reduction for the Becher’s Brook fence, while the fourth fence is to be rebuilt and shorted by two inches. The first fence will keep its height, but will be levelled out. All toe boards are to be increased in height to 14 inches.

However, while the decision may appease animal rights groups, it has been criticised by former Grand National winner Jason Maguire. The jockey told BBC Radio 5 live: “From a jockey’s point of view, we say no. We’d hate to lose the character of the race.

“If you lower the fences and make things a lot easier you’re going to have horses going quicker and that might cause a problem.”

Fans of the John Smith’s Grand National will welcome the news that tickets for the 2012 event are now available.

Those looking for season tickets, two-day grandstand badges and hospitality tickets can get their hands on tickets for the next meeting, which runs April 12-14 at Aintree Racecourse.

All other tickets, including Tattersalls tickets, will be on sale online from August 16 and by phone from August 17.

According to the event organisers, the meeting “promises to be bigger and better than ever before”.