Huge surprise on the exchanges as Kauto Star and Denman are beaten by Imperial Commander.

It was billed as Kauto Star v Denman but in the end Imperial Commander took the Gold Cup honours at Cheltenham today.

Pre-race publicity focused on Paul Nicholls' duo, winners of the last three runnings, but a crashing fall from a struggling Kauto ended his involvement and Denman was ousted up the Cheltenham Hill for a famous victory.

Nigel Twiston-Davies' nine-year-old rewarded punters willing to look beyond the front two with a 9.9 success at Betfair SP and 70.0 in the ante-post markets.

A strong ride from Paddy Brennan in the Cheltenham gloom saw Imperial Commander always up alongside the leaders. Kauto, who sweated up before the race, was not his usual self and was being pushed along by Ruby Walsh before going down.

That handed the initiative to Denman, who touched 1.7 in-running with AP McCoy in the plate.

But Imperial always looked comfortable and out-tanked 'The Tank' up the Hill to secure the most valuable prize in the Cheltenham crown.

Punters that sign up here can already get a free £25 bet on the 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup on Betfair.

* In very early trading Imperial Commander and Kauto Star are the 5.9 favourites for the 2011 running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Denman is a 7.5 shot.