We had the best time at the camel races. A co-teacher texted several of us to go watch some camel racing a couple of weekends ago. I was not sure what to expect, but had been told by my former Saudi Arabian students in the US that (and I quote), "because of the US and other countries we now use robot jockeys instead of small children on the camels." Wow! I thought this was hilarious and was about to see it with my own eyes!We arrived two hours early, but had a great time anyway. We watched the various handlers ride their camels into the racing area and took many photos of real camels like tourists. (We even took our Christmas card photo with some camels!)
When the race started we all went to the track. The track setup was one of the unique things about this sport. Unlike other track sports, the audience/fans actually follow the race which made it very exciting! The track was made up of three lanes and was 3km long. The inner lane was for our shuttle bus and camel owners in their SUVs, the fenced middle lane was for the camels, and the outer lane was for more camel owners and their SUVs.
Camels were lined up and waiting in what looked like heats for a swimming meet. The handlers pull their camels up to the starting line. There is a tarp in front of the camels that covers their sight. Once the tarpt is removed, the handlers let go of their leashes and the race is on! All the SUVs are equipted with radios and remotes for the mechanical jockeys. Some jockeys not only whip their camels, but also yell out comands to the camels. An announcer over a radio station was also yelling out commentary. We all kept hearing "Al Thani" over and over, which is the last name of the ruling family here.
We saw only two heats, but had a blast. I hope we go again this winter.
I have tried twice to upload a video, but it did not work. I will try again later.
