Paul Townend timed it perfectly to beat Il Est Francais at Banbridge and landed the Ladbrokes King George VI Cai at Kempton Ladbrokes King George VI Chase.

The French attacker, trained by Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm, produced a stunning display of jumping performance under the tutelage of James Reveley and Turning into the straight, the lead increased to around 10.

However, it was the Joseph O’Brien-trained Banbridge’s Paul Townend who was poised to take on the feisty front-runner, who later who performed well on this card 12 months ago.

The Orient, which was beginning to tire, chased too hard at the last minute, giving Bainbridge an opportunity, and when he took it in stride, he landed with all his momentum, finishing one and three-quarters clear. Advantage wins.

Some very good horses never got into it, given the way the race was played with the Orient putting them to the sword from somewhere.

Early blunderers such as Spilanta, Nwoy Allen and Gray Dawn never played in the game.

“L’Homme Presse” made his debut of the season and performed best among the other contestants, finishing in third place, and “The Real Whacker” justified the decision to supplement him, finishing in fourth place for the second year in a row.

O’Brien said: “It’s a special win. I’m delighted for Ronnie (Bartlett, owner) and the team. He’s been a special horse for us over the last few years.

“Winning a race like the King George is a dream, although I feel a bit sorry for JJ (Slavin, the regular jockey who rides in Ireland) who had a great connection with the horse but couldn’t come and ride it Today, Paul made his day.

“Kempton is a flat track and over this distance there is more emphasis on speed than elsewhere. Paul was pleased to have found a good rhythm and the race went well for him.

“I actually thought ‘East of France’ had turned around and gone home, but our horse kept going all the way to the finish line. His determination and endurance were tested, but he had had enough today.

“It’s really special, I grew up watching it and to have a runner is special, but to win it is a dream come true.

“We’re going to enjoy today and see how he stops and talks about plans and see what we all want to do.”

He added: “After Ronnie called me at Punchestown and said he wanted to have a go at the King George, we hatched plans to do two runs over two miles to improve his Jumping ability, we put the helmet back on and we felt like he was ready to run his legs.”