Robots to ride camels at races next season

Child jockeys are banned and light-weight jockeys are hard to come by. No problem. Now, robot jockeys will solve all the troubles on the race tracks.

The UAE yesterday successfully tested the first prototype mechanical camel jockey.

The mechanical jockey is light in weight and receives orders from the instructor via a remote control system fixed on the back of the camel.

The system allows the instructor to guide the camel using the mechanical jockey, the same way as a human jockey guides the camel.

The experiment was carried out under the directives of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Highness Shaikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Shaikh Sultan Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Protocol and Guesthouse Department, said the mechanical jockeys would be used in the next racing season. He said the first batch of robot jockeys will arrive in August.

Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State for Foreign affairs and chairman of the UAE Camel Racing Association, last March issued a decision prohibiting jockeys under 16 years to take part in racing.