There are different theories about Kicking King going into today's Totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup but it's as well that Tom Taaffe gets the obvious one out of the way first. The actual lay-off at the start of the month will not be a factor in him winning or losing.

"Absolutely not. It has made no difference to his fitness. He might have missed one day, that's all. In the overall contest that's nothing," says Taaffe.

His response to another theory, that the rising young star of Irish steeplechasing might almost be too spectacular a jumper for his own good around Cheltenham, is filled with similar and succinct certainty: "Bullshit."

In the circumstances then it's just as well that the Straffan trainer hasn't run into some of these internet betting exchange punters whose paranoid geekiness has even led to conspiracy theories that Kicking King's remarkable recovery from illness was just a plot to get a price. A man who says but doesn't do bullshit, Taaffe's response would be short, decisive and quite possibly brutal.

And who could blame him? Kicking King has provoked such a dizzying variety of emotions in the last fortnight that victory today would almost have a sense of unreality about it. Except Taaffe knows better than anyone how realistic the chance his stable star has. That's what made two weeks ago so difficult to accept.

"Anyone who works with horses understands there are always hiccups. But what turned it into a bit of a mess was that it happened to a good horse so close to a big race," he says.

"It" was a bug that caused a poor scope which in turn resulted in Taaffe declaring that Kicking King would miss the festival and instead wait for Punchestown.

The latter point was vital because it gave time which meant antibiotics weren't used.

"It's just like humans. It depends on the individual. Some immune systems recover better than others. I've seen it before," Taaffe says. "The Sunday after I was looking at him in the paddock and he looked great. I rode him out and he pulled the arms out of me. He was telling me himself he was okay again. So I thought, right, let's throw everything at him and see how he does."

The response, as it has been all season, was first rate and the Gold Cup dream was back on track. But in terms of peace of mind there are more sedate ways of spending early March.

Now, instead of watching from the outside, Taaffe is bang in the middle of a drama where his name will always have colossal resonance.

His father Pat won the Gold Cup four times, including the legendary three in a row on Arkle.

Kicking King could well have it in him to continue the tradition. If he does he will have to race farther than he ever has before. Two runner-up placings at the festival already have come at two miles. The most he has ever travelled is three miles.

Today's race is quarter of a mile farther and on a uniquely testing track.

"I don't have a problem with his stamina," says his trainer. "In the King George we rode him like a horse who needs four miles.

"At the last there was a silly mistake but if he was tired he would have fallen. Instead he picked up again and was going away in the last 100 yards."

Taaffe adds that the Gold Cup has always been the plan since last summer when he and owner Conor Clarkson decided to let the horse quietly pick his way to the big race rather than proclaim grandly that the Gold Cup was the aim.

"If we had been building him up as a Gold Cup horse and then had to change our minds it would have been deflating. Instead the horse has done the talking.

"It appears a very open race this year. But I can only affect what can happen with my horse. There is no point in me worrying about what Strong Flow or Celestial Gold or Beef Or Salmon might do," he says.

Yesterday morning Kicking King certainly appeared to be a picture of rude good health as he completed a couple of gentle canters under his big race jockey Barry Geraghty.

"Cracking form, could not be happier," was the Taaffe verdict.

In the circumstances that in itself is quite an achievement. But it could pale into insignificance come 3.30 this afternoon.