Trapped nerve linked to King flop

TOM Taaffe identified a trapped nerve as a possible reason for Kicking King’s lacklustre show at Gowran last week.

The 2005 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner impressed when runner-up behind Nickname on his return from a long injury lay-off but failed to improve on that show in the Red Mills Chase at Gowran.

Kicking King could finish only a distant third behind outsider Ballistraw in the two and a half mile event but Taaffe reports the 10-year-old to have been suffering from a minor ailment.