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Fondmort stormed home to win the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham and give trainer Nicky Henderson his first success in the race.

Victory in the 2m 4f contest, the first big handicap of the National Hunt season, also capped a memorable week for jockey Mick Fitzgerald, who rode his 1,000th winner last weekend.

But the race was marred by the death of Poliantas, who collapsed and died from a heart attack after finishing runner-up for the second year in a row.

It was the second tragedy of the day as the promising Brother Joe broke a shoulder in the novices' chase and later had to be put down.

Coming to the third last in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, the race looked very open with a handful of horses bunched together.

Fondmort and Poliantas then began to draw away while Risk Accessor and Tony McCoy's mount It Takes Time both fell at the second last.

Fondmort, sent off the 3-1 favourite after being well-backed in the days leading up to the race, then stepped up a gear and finished eight lengths clear.

He'd been working well recently and judging by the way he was backed this week, we weren't the only people to know about it Trainer Nicky Henderson on Fondmort

Outsider and long-time leader Ei Ei came third in the �110,000 contest, which is the highlight of the three-day Open meeting at Cheltenham.

Last year's winner Cyfor Malta, who was looking for his third win in the race, was beaten a long way from home, finishing fifth.

"It was the perfect round by the horse, with the perfect jockey doing the job," said winning trainer Henderson.

"That was his best performance. He is a seven-year-old and you would think he could progress."

McCoy took a tumble in the big race but it was good day for the champion jockey, who rode a treble on Puntal, Therealbandit and Gone Too Far and kept up trainer Martin Pipe's fantastic record at the Open meeting.

Shardam entered the reckoning for the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Newbury in a fortnight's time with an easy eight-length win in the Open Handicap Chase.

Ridden by Carl Llewellyn, the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained horse led from start to finish.

Paddy Power Gold Cup Chase
Cheltenham, 2m 4f