Barry Geraghty survived a late scare to win the King George

The seven-year-old survived a late fence scare to win the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.

He was a general 7-1 chance for the Gold Cup, hoping to better last year's second in the Arkle Chase.

However, trainer Tom Taaffe confirmed: "Kicking King will not run in the Gold Cup as he did not scope well on Tuesday morning."

Kicking King was also entered in the Daily Telegraph Festival Trophy Chase over two miles, five furlongs and connections had not made a decision on which race he would tackle.

The horse always tells you when to run and unfortunately he's saying not to Trainer Tom Taaffe

With Cheltenham now off the agenda, Taaffe is hopeful that Kicking King will make a quick recovery with connections already eyeing a chance of some consolation at the Punchestown Festival.

"We felt that we didn't have enough time to get him back on track before Cheltenham so he won't go for the shorter race either," said Taaffe.

"Hopefully we will have him right again for the Punchestown Festival at the end of April.

"Nothing has been apparent with the horse, he just didn't scope well. The horse always tells you when to run and unfortunately he's saying not to.

A bitter disappointment for fans of this horse - he has gained a lot of fans after his good win at Kempton From Jester24 Join the debate on Horseracing

"It's disappointing but these things happen and we hope to have him back for Punchestown."

Kicking King has notched three wins from his last four starts, with his defeat coming when second to Beef Or Salmon at Down Royal in November.

Meanwhile, fellow Irish hope Beef Or Salmon has recovered from the virus that affected his performance at Leopardstown last month.

The gelding, who is now around an 8-1 shot for the Gold Cup, was found to have been suffering from an upper respiratory tract infection following his defeat at the hands on Rule Supreme in the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup and was treated with antibiotics.

He is in good form, and looks like he has got over his problems Beef Or Salmon's trainer Michael Hourigan

But the nine-year-old has resumed his preparation for the Festival, which may include a trip to Limerick racecourse on Friday.

"He is in good form, and looks like he has got over his problems," said trainer Michael Hourigan.