Kicking King confirmed the promise of his second to Beef Or Salmon in the James Nicholson Champion Chase at Down Royal last month by easily reversing placings in the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase.
Barry Geraghty, completing a memorable weekend following the success of Moscow Flyer in Sandown's Tingle Creek Chase just 24 hours earlier, sent the Tom Taaffe-trained gelding to the front after the fifth as Harbour Pilot dropped out quickly and was soon pulled up. The latter was reported to be 'clinically abnormal' post-race.
The Old Vic gelding stretched his four remaining rivals - Arctic Copper (lame) and Nil Desperandum (passport lodged after the allotted time) were both absentees - down the back straight, with Beef Or Salmon losing touch with some deliberate jumping.
Kicking King maintained the gallop in the straight to come home 11 lengths clear of Rathgar Beau, with Beef Or Salmon a further six lengths back staying on again in the closing stages to just deny Native Upmanship third place.
'You can't be any happier with that, and it's a particularly important win as JD (John Durkan) and I had some great times together,' said an emotional Taaffe afterwards. 'The race in the north (James Nicholson) was messy with a muddling pace and I was at fault for sticking Barry too much to instructions. We let him roll today and his jumping out in the country won it for him.'
Taaffe will now decide between the King George and the Lexus at Leopardstown for his next race, with the trainer seeming to be leaning towards the Kempton race. 'We will keep our options open but next stop will probably be the King George, although I'm not ruling out the Lexus. He will not race again after that until March,' added the Straffan handler, who plans to walk the course at Kempton in the next ten days.
Connections of Beef Or Salmon were not too down-hearted after the defeat. 'Timmy (Murphy) said he needed the run badly, and after he got a breather he was staying on again at the finish,' said Michael Hourigan before adding, 'At this level you can't afford to miss a fortnight's work. He will go next for the Lexus.'
Kicking King is now 4/1 (from 8/1) with Cashmans for the King George, while they make him a 12/1 chance for the Gold Cup. The Cork firm have doubled Beef Or Salmon's odds for the Gold Cup from 7/1 out to 14/1.
Taaffe and Geraghty also teamed up to take the Schweppes Handicap Hurdle with well-backed 100/30 favourite Tumbling Dice, who readily drew clear on the run-in to beat Hill Port by four and a half lengths.
Beef Or Salmon's connections were on the mark earlier when Church Island stayed on best on the run-in to beat Panaea by four lengths in division two of the maiden hurdle. 'He's a nice big horse, and a real chaser in the making,' said Hourigan, who is planning a quick reappearance in a three miles Grade 3 novice hurdle at Cork next Sunday.
Alan Magee
