THIS is some King George. It is one of those races you just want to see run now, you’re just dying to find out how it’s going to pan out.

For starters, what’s going to lead? Smad Place, Vautour, Silviniaco Conti and Cue Card can all lead or race handily, and that’s almost half the field. It’s fascinating. The pace will be unrelenting, that’s for sure, and that’s with no Coneygree in the race.

The market has settled down by now, a market that has been on the go for months, and every horse’s price has probably got very close to its point of equilibrium.

It is correct that Don Cossack and Vautour are disputing favouritism. Don Cossack is the highest-rated chaser in training, he won Grade 1 races at Aintree and at Punchestown last season.

He is two for two this term, looking as good as ever, and this race has been his target at least since he won the JNWine.com Chase at Down Royal at the end of October, but probably since before that.

Vautour is rated 4lb inferior to Don Cossack, but he is two years younger than Gordon Elliott’s horse, and he has raced just five times over fences. Willie Mullins’ horse looked brilliant at Cheltenham in March in the JLT Chase, and he still has potential to progress. He has to prove his stamina, but he stayed on well to win at Ascot on his debut this season, and that was over two miles and five furlongs, the longest trip over which he has ever raced.

If there is any value left in the race, however, it may lie with Smad Place, who was only confirmed as a definite intended runner in the race on Monday.

Alan King’s horse was a good staying hurdler, he finished third in the 2012 World Hurdle as a five-year-old and in the 2013 World Hurdle as a six-year-old.

A good novice chaser two seasons ago - he was only beaten a neck by O’Faolains Boy in the 2014 RSA Chase - he didn’t win at all last season in four attempts. But in just two runs this season, he has appeared like a hugely improved individual.

An operation to fix a trapped epiglottis appears to have been crucial, and he is two for two now this term. He was good in beating Fingal Bay at Kempton over two and a half miles on his debut, and he was a revelation in the Hennessy.

Allowed stride on in the lead from the 10th fence by Wayne Hutchinson, he jumped his rivals ragged from that point, and he came clear from the second last fence to win by 12 lengths, leaving the impression that he could have found even more if more had been required.

Alan King’s horse probably has to improve again if he is to win today’s William Hill King George, but it is more than possible that he can.

In was in that Hennesy that he was ridden aggressively for the first time, and he seemed to enjoy it. He only has 7lb to find on official ratings, and that gap is not unbridgeable.

It may be that he is best on a flat track. He has never won at Cheltenham, despite six attempts there, and his Hennessy run on Newbury’s flat terrain was the best of his life. Also, he does have a tendency to jump to his right. His record going right-handed reads 1122U11 (and the U should really have been a 1) and he is one for one at Kempton. It may be that he can improve again for the switch back to a right-handed track.

A lot will depend on who bags the early lead, but if the excellent Wayne Hutchinson can get his striking near-white companion into a nice rhythm on or near the front from early, he could run a massive race.

CORAL WELSH GRAND NATIONAL

Red Devil Lads could be the answer to a hugely competitive Coral Welsh Grand National at Chepstow tomorrow. He ran well on his debut this season at Ludlow 10 days ago to finish second behind David Pipe’s talented hurdler Katkeau.

Rebecca Curtis’ horse jumped to his left that day in front, but he still travelled well into the home straight before weakening over the final two fences.

That was Red Devil Lads’ first run since last April, whereas Katkeau had beaten Southfield Vic in his beginners’ chase a month previously. He should be better with that run under his belt, and for the switch to a left-handed track.

Also, he is only six years old, and that was just his seventh run over fences, so he has lots of scope for progression as a staying chaser.

This is a step up in trip for him, but he stays three miles well and, out of a point-to-point winner and a half-brother to a winner over three miles over hurdles, he is bred for stamina. He could even improve again for the step up to this extreme trip.

The handicapper raised him 2lb to a mark of 138 for his Ludlow run, but he gets to race off his old mark of 136 tomorrow. More than that, however, he has the potential to go a fair bit higher even than his new mark now as he gains in experience.

Rebecca Curtis’ horses are going well after a quiet spell through the early part of the winter, and you can be sure that she would love to win her home Grand National, having gone so close with Teaforthree in 2012/13.

RECOMMENDED

SMAD PLACE, 9/1 (generally) 1 point win

RED DEVIL LADS, 16/1 (generally) 1 point each-way