Kicking King

nogihno

Just heard that Kicking King has been ruled out of the gold cup. Anyone heard similar?

pro_gnostic_8

Sure has!! Suffering from a tendon injury apparently, according to trainer Tom.

Throws the whole G Cup picture into disarray ............ and lessens the race as a spectacle. No Best Mate, no Trabolgan, a dodgy Kinfgscliffe and now no Kicking King. Not much left.

I can't help thinking tho', how Kicking King was also withdrawn before last year's Gold Cup and subsequently backed at 999/1 by some "people".

Healio

(from racingpost)
Tom Taaffe believes the eight-year-old picked up the injury when landing back-to-back wins in the Stan James King George VI Chase at Sandown on Boxing Day.

"He has strained his tendon and on veterinary advice, myself and his owner Conor Clarkson have decided the horse will not run in the Gold Cup," said Taaffe.

"I am not certain but I think it happenedin Sandown when he won the King George.

"Nothing showed up for two days, but we were watching him and thought he had just banged his leg until we got it assessed.

"He has been scanned intensively by my vet Jimmy Kelly in Naas and the strain is in theupper third of his tendon, which is good news.

"If it was at the bottom it can be difficult to get them back, but they can often recover well from upper strains.

"I would hope to give him walking exercise, but he will definitely not be back this season.

"His target is now the 2007 Gold Cup. He has had good healing powers in the past and I would hope he has a similar response to this.

"I'd like to think we would have him back on the track next Christmas with a view of then going to Cheltenham."

It looks like he is definitely out this time around, very disappointing. Lets hope the injury recovers well and he is back for gold cup no.2 in 2007.

masterK

Very disappointing news, this years Gold Cup is now looking like a very average race, Beef or Salmon and Kingscliff being joint favourites proves this. Hopefully a few more contenders come to light before the race.

Winelover

sad to say but I think Monkerhostin is now good value at 9-1....

Corben Dallas

At this rate Beef or Salmon might win this years Gold Cup :rolleyes:

cause there will be no quality in the field. :v:

It will take a full year for this injury to heal? is that normal in racing?

Harchibald out too?, Hedgehunter might run?

masterK

Winelover wrote:

sad to say but I think Monkerhostin is now good value at 9-1....

If the race where to be run tomorrow that's where my money would be.

There's talk of novices Darkness and The Listener being aimed at the race now, personnally I'd be surprised if there is any truth in this as Darkness's jumping is way to novicey while The Listener seems to need soft ground.

fr wishy washy

Its shaping up like the worst Gold Cup in living memory.
If B O S is joint fav, and we all know he hates the track ,and average handicapper Monkerhostin is touted as a likely winner.I think that a novice or second season horse will win it this year as there will be Trainers who might by- pass the Sun Alliance as the Gold Cup looks so weak.

masterK

Ingles Drever is the latest big name to be ruled out for the season, it's been a pretty incredible few days. The world hurdle looked like a week race as it was without the hot favourite being pulled out.

Morgans

I'm not the greatest fan of the horse, but the way has been left clear for Baracouda to win the World hurdle. I think connections were avoiding ID in the Long Walk, and with No Refuge and Golden Cross respected but with something to prove. Rhinestone Cowboy to come back and prove he was as good as before, I have taken Baracouda at 5.4/1 adn 5.3/1 on the exchanges.

I too have MOnkerhostin backed for the gold cup, directly after the KG at 16s - and 10s with betfred last night.

BoS looks to be jumping straighter this year and if he is ever going to win one, and he has the pure ability to do so, then this is his year. Would be interesting to see Jazz d'Estruval or even Nickname take him on in the Hennessey.

fr wishy washy

Morgans wrote:

. Would be interesting to see Jazz d'Estruval or even Nickname take him on in the Hennessey.

The first named there unlikely to get his ground at the festival though, but would be a fascinating runner if it came up on the soft side....

Morgans

You're not wrong Fr Wishy Washy, but if Jazz d'Estruval came over and cantered home in the Hennessey - has it to prove he is that good yet, and Beef or Salmon should be able to handle him, but if he were he would be very close to being favourite for the Gold Cup. He is one of the few horses left in the market who is unexposed and may be genuinely top class over 3m2f. Like you said soft ground helps the horse, and as I said, he has an awful lot to prove, but given safe ground, he may not have an lot to beat. Royal Auclair and Take THe Stand are solid ew chances at the moment, after that others with outside claims include Cyrlight and Our Vic, but even their chances are sketchier than JdE.

I've backed Monkerhostin.

Crumbs

When a race opens up like this and becomes poorer in depth than it could have been, it's always tempting to look for possible unexposed horses and while that can sometimes prove lucrative, I've gone for the proven course, distance and ground form of Kingscliff and Take The Stand.

I also think that Hedgehunter will be primed to run a big race. Ignore whatever form he shows up to the race and take what should be around 20/1 e/w on the day.

masterK

My long standing ante-post bet for the world hurdle is on Asian Maze at 25/1, the worry is she is still to be seen this season with the word being that she has suffered a setback and it is hoped she will run before the end of the month, if she does and runs well her price will plummet. Her novice form was exceptional culminating in a hugely impressive win over the best of the 3 mile novice devision at Aintree.

Morgans

Its a good bet MAsterK, and word has it that she will be out on the racecourse in the next few weeks. I dont trust last years 3m hurdle form. Asian Maze did it well at Aintree, but I'm not entirely sure of the quality of the opposition. That, and I dont trust mares to carry their form forward year on year. The Mullins family are masters of preparing them though, and she is in the right hands to negate this issue. We'll know more when she runs. But at 25/1 MasterK, you can afford to be wrong.

fr wishy washy

Crumbs wrote:

I also think that Hedgehunter will be primed to run a big race. Ignore whatever form he shows up to the race and take what should be around 20/1 e/w on the day.

Could be interesting allright.I seem to remember that horse going well at the festival 2 years back only for a near disasterous mistake to knock him back when looking the likely winner.

masterK

Morgans wrote:

Its a good bet MAsterK, and word has it that she will be out on the racecourse in the next few weeks. I dont trust last years 3m hurdle form. Asian Maze did it well at Aintree, but I'm not entirely sure of the quality of the opposition. That, and I dont trust mares to carry their form forward year on year. The Mullins family are masters of preparing them though, and she is in the right hands to negate this issue. We'll know more when she runs. But at 25/1 MasterK, you can afford to be wrong.

Agreed about last years novice form, Brewster hasn't exactly franked it with his runs this year. In Asian Mazes favour is the fact that she improved with every race and really hit top form at the end of the season so she still looks on the upgrade. I can see this years stayers being a small field which will be to her advantage with her front running style allowing her to dictate the pace. As you said with the lack of quality elsewhere I am quite happy with 25/1 on her.