The seemingly endless drama in the run up to the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup took a new twist yesterday when it was revealed that the best placed Irish prospect for the 2008 renewal, Kicking King, would no longer be participating in the Cheltenham Festival’s biggest race.

Priced at 25-1, the 2005 Gold Cup winner seemed to have recovered from a tendon injury suffered last year but managed only third place in a field of five at the Red Mills Chase at Gowran in February.

With Kicking King last having won a race in December, trainer Pat Taaffe made the tough decision to pull his horse from a 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup that will demand top form and fitness from all participants.

Taaffe was quick to dismiss rumours that the last Irish horse to win a Cheltenham Gold Cup was headed for retirement. Instead, Kicking King will be heading home in April to participate in the Punchestown Festival.

Kicking King wasn’t the only high profile entrant in the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup to receive bad news this week. Graham Lee, who last won the top jockey title at Cheltenham the year Kicking King took the cup, has also been informed that he will not be participating in the 2008 event.