Dubai: A new thoroughbred camel racing series that aims to attract more national owners and also act as springboard towards a higher level of competition, has made a successful debut at the Al Marmoom Camel Racetrack.
Created by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, the Generous Gesture Camel Racing Festival falls in line with his primary objective to revive and sustain the growth of traditional and heritage sports, like came racing, in the Emirates.
Organised by the Dubai Camel Racing Club, the eight-day event featured three rounds of races for both Laqaya and Yeatha camels exclusively for the Arabian thoroughbred camel.
It was also no surprise that camels owned by Shaikh Hamdan himself and the all-powerful Al Asifa Stables, dominated proceedings.
Al Asifa camels, representing the mighty trainer Giath Al Hillali, swept all 14 races day one of the third and final round of competition earlier this week.
The best timing was registered by the speedy local-bred male (Jeadan) camel, “Shaheen, who clocked 06 minutes 06:20 seconds for the 4-km race. Earlier, the inaugural race allocated for female camels was won by “AShaheniya”.
The second day, allocated for the Yeatha category also saw Al Asifa camels flex their muscles and snatched 11 wins out of the 14 races of the races. The other three races were won by the camels owned by Shaikh Hamdan.
The best timing of the day was set by the speedy Local Abkar she — camel “AShaheniya”, owned by Al Asifa Stables, who clocked 06 minutes 06:20 seconds for the 4-km race.
Winners were awarded cash prizes and luxury cars.
The Tribesmen categories also threw up strong competition with the lucky winners also receiving cash prizes and luxury gifts.
