Kicking King - out of the Gold Cup.

By Michael Clower

Kicking King's defection from the Cheltenham Gold Cup is a bitter blow to Ireland's chances of winning the Blue Riband for the first time since Imperial Call nine years ago and it also shows just how vulnerable ante-post punters are to the minor virus that is playing havoc with so many trainers' plans.

Tom Taaffe's seven-year-old was just about the only horse in the Gold Cup field with a realistic chance of beating Best Mate.

Many critics have openly doubted his stamina but he was a good 10 lengths clear, and showing no sign of stopping, when he made that terrible blunder at the final fence in the King Gorge VI Chase.

When you make allowance for how much that mistake cost him, his considerable superiority over the likes of Kingscliff would have given him a big chance on March 18. Furthermore he is a young horse still on the upgrade.

Taaffe can only console himself with the thought that there is always next year but there is nothing like striking while the iron is hot, particularly when you are dealing with an animal as injury-prone as a steeplechaser.

The TV screens on both sides of the Irish sea have shown a number of re-runs of last year's Gold Cup in the past 10 days, and these are likely to increase still further as this year's race draws near.

They show with startling clarity just how much ground Best Mate was forced to forfeit when Paul Carberry on Harbour Pilot audaciously boxed him in.

Jim Culloty's mount came there full of running going to the second last yet his rider was forced to take a pull, and then sit and suffer for an agonisingly long time, before he finally found daylight.

With a clear run, the winning margin could easily have been five lengths.

The videos suggest that Sir Rembrandt, Harbour Pilot and Beef Or Salmon were flattered by finishing so close.

If Best Mate gets to Cheltenham in the same sort of form that he was in 12 months ago he looks sure to become the first horse since Golden Miller to win the race four times.

Golden Miller, of course, won it five times and his various trainers seemingly did not have to contend with mystery viruses which often only become apparent when a horse is racing.

They have made life a nightmare for several trainers this season and there will undoubtedly be a number of fancied horses at the Festival which flop as a result of the same complaint.

Charles O'Brien's impressive Punchestown winner Vintage Gold goes on trial for the Champion Bumper at Leopardstown on Sunday when many of Ireland's leading Cheltenham hopes will work after racing.

Perhaps the best bet, though, will be the Jim Dreaper-trained Jim in the Mick Holly Memorial Handicap Chase.