Great Endeavour wins Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham

Great Endeavour survived an awkward moment at the final fence to win

Great Endeavour upset the form book to win by seven lengths in the coveted Paddy Power Gold Cup, over two miles, four-and-a-half furlongs at Cheltenham.

On a glorious autumn's afternoon at the home of National Hunt racing, favourite Wishfull Thinking led for much of the race but was overhauled and pulled up.

Great Endeavour, an 8-1 shot ridden by Timmy Murphy, surged clear for owner David Johnson's seventh Gold Cup win.

Nicky Henderson's Quantitativeeasing was second, with Divers third.

The David Pipe-trained Great Endeavour was well fancied for last year's race but the grey finished a disappointing sixth.

However, this time Murphy timed his charge to perfection after Richard Johnson had set a furious early pace on Wishfull Thinking, only to fade down the hill.

After negotiating a slight stumble at the last of the 15 fences, Murphy paid tribute to both his trainer and his horse.

"He [Pipe] knows how to train winners, which makes my job easier," said the jockey.

"This is a bit special. He had a great novice year - low profile - and he's improved all the time."

The ante-post favourite, Mon Parrain, was never able to get involved in the race.

Cheltenham 1435:

1 Great Endeavour (T J Murphy) 8-1

2 Quantitativeeasing (A Tinkler) 20-1

3 Divers (G Lee) 20-1