King gives Gold Cup rivals a kicking

THE legendary Taaffe family claimed yet another Cheltenham Gold Cup when Kicking King trounced his rivals at sun-drenched Prestbury Park yesterday.

Kicking King, an imperious seven-year-old, is trained by Tom Taaffe, son of the late, great Pat. The senior Taaffe, of course, rode might Arkle to take three Gold Cups and also won the race on Fort Leney.

Over two weeks earlier Taaffe had declared Kicking King a “certain”' non-starter. Utterly distraught, he reported that his charge had worked badly and then scoped badly. “It's not the end of the world, no one has died”', he said.