Kicking King back on track

KICKING KING may have missed out on an attempt to regain his Cheltenham Gold Cup crown but the 2005 blue-riband winner is on course to return to action at the Punchestown Festival.

The day two feature at Punchestown towards the end of next month, the Guinness Gold Cup, is the race trainer Tom Taaffe has in mind for his stable star who was taken out of Cheltenham a week beforehand after failing to sparkle in his work.

"He's on target and he will run on the Wednesday. It's all systems go and he seems very well," Taaffe said yesterday.

"He will start working again in a week and he will have a nice long run in to the end of April. He appears to be coming back to himself."

This afternoon's action at Thurles could be painful viewing for Ruby Walsh as the champion jockey is currently suspended and may miss out on a valuable winner on Orge D'ete in the first Beginners Chase.

The former smart hurdler started favourite at Clonmel on his last start but found Grapevine Sally too good. This looks a suitable opportunity for Willie Mullins's horse.

Walsh's rival in the race for the jockeys' title, Davy Russell, could rub some salt into the suspension wound if Burren Ben is back to his best and delivers victory in the other beginners chase.