King`s Road and Gingembre gave racegoers a thrilling battle from the second-last fence before the former pulled away to land the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Newbury today.
Incessant rain through the afternoon provided the heavy going which 7-1 shot King`s Road needs and he revelled in the underfoot conditions to provide 22-year-old jockey Jamie Goldstein with the biggest victory of his career.
However, the pair were forced to pull out all the stops as 20-1 chance Gingembre, who led slightly over the last, ensured a hard-fought encounter before going down to a five-length defeat.
Irish raider Alexander Banquet ran on into third place, 15 lengths behind.
Trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies, who also saddled disappointing top-weight Beau, was delighted with the success of King`s Road.
'This was a proper performance,' he said Twiston-Davies. 'He did everything right.
'People have crabbed his jumping but when he can jump in his own time he`s very good and he loved the heavy ground.'
Twiston-Davies admitted he thought both his charges had chances of victory and he decided jockey plans which saw Goldstein on board the winner and stable jockey Carl Llewellyn on Beau, who was pulled up two fences from home.
'I honestly thought we could win with both horses,' Twiston-Davies said. 'Carl will accept this without a problem because he is a team player and we are a big team.'
King`s Road, who will contest the Coral Welsh National at Chepstow over Christmas on his next appearance, is now quoted as short as 20-1 by William Hill and Ladbrokes for the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup.
But Twiston-Davies warned punters against taking the price at this stage.
'He`ll be entered but unless it`s this sort of ground he won`t run in it, on soft ground he`d have a very good chance,' the trainer said.
Beau`s performance puzzled Twiston-Davies, who said: 'That was not his running.'
A thrilled Goldstein, whose father Ray rode over jumps for 20 years without winning a race as big as the Hennessy, proclaimed the day as the best of his life.
'The Hennessy is the Gold Cup of handicaps,' he said.
'To get on a horse like this is unreal and today he had the best of it in every department - both the ground and the trip were tailor made for him.
Veronica Jones, who received the Hennessy Gold Cup on behalf of King`s Road`s group of owners, added: 'He`s always been a very good horse for us. I can`t believe he`s gone on from bumpers, to hurdling to chasing and now this.'
Gingembre`s trainer Lavinia Taylor took the defeat on the chin.
'We knew he was well handicapped and that`s why we didn`t run him before the weights came out,' she said.
'One was always hopeful that he would finish as close as he did because he`s a horse who always finds a lot under pressure.'
Alexander Banquet`s trainer Willie Mullins said: 'We were praying for rain all week as he wants these testing conditions and is at his best in them.
'He`s a horse who wants a real stamina test and this three and a quarter miles in testing ground was always going to be his forte.
'We`ll probably run him next in the Ericsson Chase at Leopardstown at Christmas.'
The 100-30 favourite Kingsmark finsished a disappointing sixth.
