Let X be an irreducible, non-singular, algebraic curve defined over a field of odd characteristic p. Let g and γ be the genus and p-rank of X , respectively. The influence of g and γ on the automorphism group Aut(X ) of X is well-known in the literature. If g ≥ 2 then Aut(X ) is a finite group, and unless X is the so-called Hermitian curve, its order is upper bounded by a polynomial in g of degree four (Stichtenoth). In 1978 Henn proposed a refinement of Stichtenoth's bound of cube order in g up to few exceptions, all having p-rank zero. In this paper a further refinement of Henn's result is proposed. First, we prove that if an algebraic curve of genus g ≥ 2 has more than 336g 2 automorphisms then its automorphism group has exactly two short orbits, one tame and one non-tame. Then we show that if |Aut(X )| ≥ 900g 2 , the quotient curve X /Aut(X )(1) P where P is contained in the non-tame short orbit is rational, and the stabilizer of 2 points is either a p-group or a prime-to-p group, then the p-rank of X is equal to zero.