Richard Azan’s seasoned campaigner, Laban, delivered one of his occasionally stunning performances to capture Saturday’s feature contest for the Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL) Security Department trophy at Caymanas Park.

The eight-year-old bay horse, co-owned by Milad and Richard Azan, sprinted to victory over five furlongs (1,000m) straight as he defied the odds to outclass a strong field of younger rivals in the curtain call event of the nine-race card.

Sent off at odds of 8-1, Laban, expertly piloted by Panamanian Ismael Velasquez, clocked an impressive 57.3 seconds, behind splits of 23.2 and 45.3 seconds. This performance left the overwhelming favorite, Madelyn’s Sunshine, from the Jason DaCosta barn in his wake and handed Velasquez his second win on Jamaican soil.

Breaking from post position four, Laban was kept slightly off the early pace, settling in sixth as Joy is Golden (Richie Shakes), Mrs Lyndhurst (Oneil Mullings), Geolithic (Jaheim Anderson), and Mudshaft (Dick Cardenas) set the tempo. Madelyn’s Sunshine (Trevor Simpson) seemed well-positioned in fifth at that point but failed to fire when it mattered most.

As the runners came across the quarter onto the main track, Velasquez asked Laban to quicken, and the veteran responded with a powerful burst, pulling away at the furlong pole. He crossed the line a length ahead of Joy is Golden, who held on for second, with Mrs Lyndhurst and Geolithic completing the frame.

Meanwhile, jockey Robert Halledeen and trainer DaCosta emerged as the day’s top performers, combining for a double on the nine-race card. They opened their account in the second race with Stormbringer, an offspring of the legendary She’s a Maneater, before claiming the eighth race with California Crown, last year’s 2000 Guineas winner, making a triumphant return from a lengthy layoff.