IT is good news that it is happening - that the King George duel is on. It is good news that Thistlecrack has stepped into the space that was vacated by Coneygree because, if he hadn’t, we would probably have been looking at a lap and a half of honour as opposed to a fascinating encounter: the established champion against the up and coming potential superstar.

Kauto Star v Denman they are saying, and you can see the similarities. Both high-class staying chasers, both hailing from the same yard, Colin Tizzard’s this time as opposed to Paul Nicholls’. But there the similarities end really.

Cue Card is two years older than Thistlecrack, whereas Kauto Star and Denman were of the same vintage, even though Kauto was jumping fences two years before Denman was. And the Kauto/Denman encounters were in the Gold Cup, not in the King George. Actually, Denman never ran in the King George, whereas Kauto Star made it his own.

More importantly, however, when Kauto and Denman met first, in the 2008 Gold Cup, Kauto Star was the reigning Gold Cup title-holder while Denman was unbeaten in eight runs over fences, numbering a Hennessy Gold Cup and a Lexus Chase and an RSA Chase among his victories. Both horses were eight years old, both were in their pomp, both rising forces.

By contrast, Cue Card is last year’s King George hero, but he is 10 years old. It is unlikely that he will still be winning King Georges in three years’ time. Thistlecrack is at the other end of the experience spectrum, he has won just three races over fences, a Grade 2 five-horse race the best of them.

Kauto Star was already a superstar and Denman was already a monster when the Ditcheat Duo first met. Irresistible force and immovable object, something had to give. Cue Card v Thistlecrack is fascinating, but it is not there.

Not yet anyway.