It's a donkey's life after all!

Islamabad: The search for the town's swiftest donkey this year ended with a donkey named Talash, winning the race.

Coincidentally, Talash literally means search.

The donkey emerged as the fastest among the 50-odd participants, winning the Chief Secretary (CS) Cup, pulling cart number 13, a number that proved lucky.

Talash covered a 14-kilometre distance in 17 minutes and 13 seconds.

The participants got a walkover from former champion, a donkey called Ladla.

The owner of Talash, Asghar Badshah told a newspaper, The News,"We will party tonight in a local hotel at Kharadar and all the friends would be celebrating."

Asghar said he fed Talash pistachios and almonds that cost him Rs 500 a day "to keep him strong and healthy to get maximum output from him in competitions like this".

He said he was now eyeing the Governor's Cup.

The race started with a bit of drama when all the donkeys, supposed to line up a few minutes before the start of the race, suddenly started running.

"Unlike horses, donkeys are not trained enough to wait for the word 'go' or some whistle. Therefore, when they get lined up, they immediately started running," said general secretary of the Pakistan Sports Board Donkey Race, Nisar Ahmed Sheikh.

Sindh chief secretary, Fazal-ur-Rehman, distributed the prizes to the cart riders and Asghar received Rs 15,000 for Talash’s win.