Two Kings clash at Punchestown
Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Kicking King faces a fascinating clash with British raider Kingscliff in the Guinness Gold Cup at Punchestown tomorrow.
Tom Taaffe’s seven-year-old was an impressive winner of the Festival prize on his last start and will be bidding for a fourth Grade One win this season after also taking the King George VI Chase and the John Durkan Memorial Chase.
Robert Alner’s Kingscliff chased him home at Kempton on St Stephen's Day but missed the Gold Cup having failed to satisfy his trainer in a piece of work.
Irish Hennessy winner Rule Supreme returns to fences as he bids to atone for an unfortunate early exit in the Liverpool Hurdle at Aintree.
The Francois Doumen-trained First Gold, winner of this race in 2003 and third last year, takes his chance again, with Noel Meade’s Arctic Copper and the Edward O’Grady-trained Pizarro completing the six-runner field.
