Cheltenham countdown - news digest

Former Gold Cup winner Kicking King was a fine second to Nickname in the rescheduled Grade Two Normans Grove Chase at Gowran Park on Thursday, his first run for 759 days following a tendon injury.

Barry Geraghty set the pace on Kicking King, with his only rivals Nickname and Newmill settled behind him. Kicking King looked a likely winner until blundering at the second last, which allowed Nickname to charge home to score by one and a quarter lengths.

Trainer Tom Taaffe said of Kicking King: "He ran a cracker for his first run back over two miles and one. He was a bit rusty and short of match practice and you could see that two out and at the first ditch.

"It shows how good a horse he is to come back. When you bring one back after that time it is a journey of a 1000 miles and it begins with one step."

Earlier a Gowran Park, Michael Bowe saddled a 1-2 in the Grade Three Alo Duffin Memorial Galmoy Hurdle when hsi second string Earth Magic scored a 14-1 upset over stablemate Sweet Kiln.

Preists Leap won the Ellen Construction Thyestes Chase, giving trainer Thomas O'Leary the biggest win of his career so far.