91Èȱ¬

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