LAHORE, Jan 30: Long shot Moment of Truth caused a major surprise by capturing the Sialkot Cup run over 1,800 metres during the 22nd Lahore Winter Meeting at the Racecourse here on Sunday.

Although he was not fancied of the five runners sent by trainer Zahid Rashid, Moment of Truth underlined his bloodline credentials to give joint owners, Munir Dar and Imran Butt, the biggest success of the current season in the class IV division I, II and III combined handicap race. He thus registered his name among the contenders for the Pakistan Derby 2011 to be run on March 6.

Ridden for the first time by jockey Aamir Pervez, Moment of Truth burst in to the lead in the straight to win by a big margin of over six lengths from odds-on favourite colt Sarbuland ridden by jockey Shahid Rehman in the fourth race in racing order.

Midway through the race the front running pair of Punjabi and Chan were eclipsed at the final turn and finished third and fourth, respectively.

After the race it transpired that the 20-100 favourite colt Sarbuland had his blood vessel burst when Shahid charged him to respond to his urgings in the straight perhaps under pressure of the heavy impost of crushing weight of nine stone ten pounds while Moment of Truth carried a light weight of 8-4. A race later, dark-bay colt Victory Guru, who had two consecutive victories to his credit earlier completed a hat-trick of victories with a smooth success to land the Hunza Cup run over 1,300 metres.

Ridden by Shahid Rehman, the Rashid Latif-trained colt came home flying to a comfortable victory defeating stable-mate Victory Boy by over six lengths.

In the same race the steward sent Aamir Pervez off the track for one month along with a fine of Rs10,000 charged with his unsatisfactory handling of bay colt Let Me Shine who ran off the board.

Mahmood Khan and Mian Maahir Ahmed’s owned Twinkle, a four-year-old bay filly, was given a patient ride by jockey M. Jameel in winning in the sixth race to cause the biggest upset of the recent weeks.

Trained by A.B. Malik, the filly was the least fancied among nine runners that even his owner had not fancied. In spite of losing a big chunk of money the sportsmen owners were happy to greet the filly on return to paddock triumphantly to pocket Rs75,000 in prize-money plus the perk for the upset result.

In the same race the LRC stewards suspended jockey Naseer Ahmed for one month and fined him Rs10,000 for his doubtful handling of filly Mirana Shaheen who ran off the frame.

Results:

THE BHAKKAR PLATE CLASS VI

DIV II & III 1,100M:

Pehchan (Mian Waleed Haroon) 9-0, A. Raza 1; Hotton 8-10, Sajjad Hussain 2; Good Idea 7-12, Shakeel Mahmood 3; Billoo Story 8-6, Riaz Hussain 4.

Won by Neck, 3 L, 4 L. Time one minute 10 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Shahnawaz Qaiser.

THE BHAKKAR PLATE CLASS VI

DIV I-B 1,100M:

Rose King (Mohammad Shabbir) 9-0, M. Jameel 1; Lucky Goshi 8-4, M. Wasim 2; Arzoo II 8-10, Ali Raza 3; Sweet Sorrow 8-6, Qadeer Ahmed 4.

Won by 2 ½ L, 2 ¼ L, Neck. Time one minute 10 seconds. Winner trained by Salahuddin II.

THE BHAKKAR PLATE CLASS VI

DIV I-A 1,100M:

Golden Addition (Hamza Khan) 9-0, M. Hanif 1; Shahenshah-e-Bhakkar 9-0, A. Raza 2; Thanks Dad 8-7, Shakeel Mahmood 3; In My Heart 8-10, Pervez Bhatti 4.

Won by 1 ¼ L, 7 L, ½ L. Time one minute 7 3/5 seconds. Winner trained by Shafiq Ahmed Khan.

THE SIALKOT CUP CLASS IV

DIV I, II & III 1,800M:

Moment of Truth (Munir Dar and Imran Butt) 8-4, Aamir Pervez 1; Sarbuland 9-10, Shahid Rehman 2; Punjabi 11-0, M. Atif II 3; Chan 10-2, Faisal Tahir 4.

Won by 6 ¾ L, Distance, ½ L. Time one minute 54 4/5 seconds. Winner trained by Zahid Rashid.

THE HUNZA CUP CLASS V DIV I & II 1,300M:

Victory Guru (Khawaja M. Atif) 9-4, Shahid Rehman 1; Victory Boy 7-10, Shakeel Mahmood 2; Bedouin Raider 7-12, A. Raza 3; Good Wood 7-12, M. Zeeshan 4.

Won by 6 ¼ L, 3 L. 3 ½ L. Time one minute 19 2/5 seconds. Winner trained by Rashid Latif.

THE HUNZA PLATE CLASS V DIV II 1,300M:

Twinkle (Mahmood Khan and Mian Maahir Ahmed) 8-6, M. Jameel 1; Quick Return 8-10, M. Zeeshan 2; Al Shams 9-0, Faisal Tahir 3; Carmon 8-6, A. Raza 4.

Won by 1 L, ¾ L, 2 ½ L. Time one minute 20 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by A.B. Malik.

THE HUNZA PLATE CLASS V DIV III 1,300M:

Qaswa (Chaudhry Mohammad Rafiq) 9-0, Khalid Vicky 1; Alpine Creek 8-11, Naseer Ahmed 2; Pretty Girl 8-6, M. Zeeshan 3; Bon Voyage 8-10, M. Hanif 4.

Won by Head, 3 L, 2 ½ L. Time one minute 21 1/5 seconds. Winner trained by the owner.