Kicking King leaps to Gold Cup glory for Ireland.

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Kicking King, virtually ruled out of the totesport Gold Cup just over a fortnight ago, jumped to glory in the blue riband event at Cheltenham.

The run-up to Friday's £350,000 race was as much about the horses that were not going to take part, a list which included the brilliant Best Mate, the winner for the last three years.

And Kicking King himself looked guaranteed to join that list when scoping badly after working poorly for trainer Tom Taaffe.

But having made a quick recovery, the King George VI Chase winner re-emerged as a Gold Cup contender last week.

And silencing fears over his stamina for this gruelling three-and-a-quarter-mile trip as well as his fitness, the 4-1 favourite ran out a most impressive winner of steeplechasing's blue riband event.

As expected, it was Grey Abbey who took the field along in the early stages with Ballycassidy, with Kicking King in midfield and Beef Or Salmon in rear.

It soon became evident that Beef Or Salmon was once again not at the top of his game as he received a series of reminders from Paul Carberry in the early stages without finding much for the pressure.

By halfway, Kicking King had moved into fifth place just behind Strong Flow, and Barry Geraghty had still barely had to ask for any sort of effort from his mount by the time he went second at the 18th fence.

At the third-last, the eventual winner took up the running and soon had only 25-1 outsider Take The Stand trailing in his immediate wake.

And although it briefly looked as if the runner-up might throw down a challenge, Kicking King had plenty left in the tank and a big jump at the last was enough to see him home by five lengths.

Last year's runner-up Sir Rembrandt (12-1) rallied bravely to finish third, with Royal Auclair fourth.

It was a chokingly emotional win for Taaffe, whose father Pat rode the mighty Arkle to a hat-trick of victories in the 1960s and who trained Captain Christy to strike in 1974.

But never a man to wear his heart too much on his sleeve, he admitted: "I'm not going to cry in front of everyone now, but I'm sure it will sink in later.

"To put the family name back on the roll of honour means everything to me. I am just so proud today.

"It was the horse that told me that he should come here, not me. He was just so well that we persevered.

"When we thought he was out of the race, we were shattered. The owner, Conor Clarkson, told me that when I rang him, he was in Spain and he pulled the car over, stopped it and didn't move for two hours.

"Having scoped so badly I took him for a walk the following Saturday to see how he was coming along and he tried to jump the gate with me.

"Then the next day I rode him out and he pulled my arms off. I rang Conor straight afterwards and said I wondered if he might be able to go for the race.

"My vet came and had a look at him and I agreed with Conor that we would try and train him for the race and see how he went.

"He made such progress that by yesterday we agreed that he was better than he had been before the King George.

"All human beings differ when it comes to recovering from illness and horses are exactly the same. But it says a lot about this horse that he got through it so quickly. That's the sort of guy he is."

Taaffe has long held a high opinion of the seven-year-old, for whom he paid just IR£20,0000.

"He has put in an exemplary round of jumping today and he's absolutely trotted up," he went on.

"He's only seven and he's still just a little bit weak around the back of the neck. I believe he can still get better.

"He has the class to come back and win another couple of these."

One man who disagrees is Best Mate's owner, Jim Lewis, who was in the winner's enclosure to congratulate the connections of Kicking King.

"He's a lovely horse but I think he'll have a race on his hands in 12 months' time," said Lewis.

Clarkson said he was looking forward to the match.

"I feel sorry for Best Mate's connections that he wasn't able to run," he said. "He is a great champion and it would be a privilege to run against him.

"Hopefully he will be back next year and it would be an honour to take him on."

He went on: "Two weeks ago I thought we were out, and I felt so lucky just to be here. To win it is an unbelievable feeling. To say it is a bonus is the wrong word, but it is a truly great, momentous feeling.

"To have a horse good enough to run is a privilege, but to win it is better again.

"I would hope we would see him again this season - there is over a month to Punchestown, and we will have to see. He is a young horse and we do not want to overface him."

Kicking King's victory cemented a fine week for jockey Barry Geraghty, having already won the Queen Mother Champion Chase on the great Moscow Flyer earlier in the week.

"I am fortunate enough to have possibly the two best chasers on the go at the minute - he is some tool," the rider said.

"He travelled so well - and he'd have beaten Best Mate and Kingscliff for sure!

"He jumped the last three brilliant. He was idling a bit but he was just dossing. He gives you the impression that he's empty when there's plenty still there."

"He's a machine. He's got pace, he jumps and he stays. He's only seven and is going to be a serious horse next year. Please God, he can come back and do it all again."