The credibility of steeplechasing’s blue riband on Friday now hangs by the finest of threads. One more high-profile withdrawal — and Howard Johnson has warned that it could be Grey Abbey if the ground continues to dry out — would put an irreparable dent in the famous trophy.

Kingscliff may lack Best Mate’s charisma, but he represented a totem to the hunting fraternity, from whose ranks he has risen with uncommon prowess. The best advertisement for hunting’s tenuous relationship with the sport was thus consigned to the shredder.

This has been a Gold Cup cursed in the build-up. In the past two weeks connections seeking assurance from a scintillating final gallop have instead been left bemused. One of them resulted in Best Mate returning with blood streaming from his nose, another so discouraged Tom Taaffe that the trainer announced Kicking King’s withdrawal, only to have a change of heart a week later.

Yet another saw Beef Or Salmon, the new favourite, secure his passage from Ireland only after veterinarians shoved lengths of rubber tubing down the horse’s windpipe to check for infections. After looking on helplessly, Michael Hourigan, Beef Or Salmon’s trainer, described the ordeal as “the longest five minutes of my life”.

As for Kingscliff, he was equally lacklustre before the eyes of Robert Alner on Sunday. “His final gallop did not go at all well,” the trainer said, “so we had no option but to pull him out. It is a sickener, but to run in the Gold Cup when you are not 100 per cent would not be fair on the horse, the owner or the jockey.”

Both the trainer and Andrew Thornton, who was scheduled to ride Kingscliff, have a Gold Cup replacement in Sir Rembrandt, runner-up to Best Mate 12 months ago.

Rule Supreme, for his part, was diverted to tomorrow’s World Hurdle after connections expressed concern over the drying ground. “The horse was off the bridle all the way in the SunAlliance Chase last year,” Willie Mullins, his trainer, said. “With a big field for the Gold Cup we felt it best to send him over hurdles.”

Edward Gillespie, the managing director of Cheltenham, put a brave face on the latest disappearing act. Asked if he could remember such a difficult Gold Cup build-up, he said: “I tend to remember the horses that have run rather than those that don’t make it but, yes, it is particularly disappointing because so many people seemed to have taken Kingscliff into their hearts after Best Mate was pulled out.

“Kingscliff was a very important horse to the hunting community but when the Gold Cup starts nobody will have those two horses on their minds. It will still be a great race.”

LATEST BETTING: totesport: 7-2 Beef Or Salmon, 4-1 Strong Flow, 5-1 Celestial Gold, Kicking King, 8-1 Grey Abbey, 9-1 Sir Rembrandt, Farmer Jack, 12-1 others.