THE RACES The camel races are a very big deal to the Qataris. These were on a Saturday, and one of the last race sets of the season. Racing camels from UAE, Oman, Saudi, and Qatar were there. About six camels ran each race, the winner of each taking $30,000, a new SUV and other prizes. Second and thirds place received to car but $15,000 and $10,000. Maj. Saeed owns 15 racing camels, but none raced on this particular day. One of his camels would take third place on the following day though, so good for him. Nobody actually rode on the camels; they used small robot jockeys with remote controlled whips. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good shot of a robot jockey, but they rode on top of the camel's rump. The camels themselves were a breed of Qatari and Sudaniese camels, a hybrid breed that produces the fastest camels. Although their legs looked to be moving in slow motion with their gigantic strides, these guys could peak around 40 mph, and the races that day were five miles. All audience members and owners watched the races while driving their SUVs, and a different race ensued with cars lumbering around haphazardly four to five rows across and jockeying for position. The winning camel has its head rubbed with pure saffron, an extraordinarily expensive herb, and the residue is left to wash off naturally. It is a sign of a winner (and makes the camel smell good too). Here is a video of the first race--you can hear the radio race announcer narrating in arabic: .jpg)
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Camel Races with Major Saeed and son
Maj Heath Schneider (HNCC security liaison) and I hung out with Qatari Major Saeed (Qatari security officer on base) and his son Mubarak for eight straight hours. We saw 3 of 12 camel races, went to a market to buy some food (we ate two meals), hung out at Maj Saeed's camel racing house (he owns another), met his camels, and watched the news. 
THE RACES The camel races are a very big deal to the Qataris. These were on a Saturday, and one of the last race sets of the season. Racing camels from UAE, Oman, Saudi, and Qatar were there. About six camels ran each race, the winner of each taking $30,000, a new SUV and other prizes. Second and thirds place received to car but $15,000 and $10,000. Maj. Saeed owns 15 racing camels, but none raced on this particular day. One of his camels would take third place on the following day though, so good for him. Nobody actually rode on the camels; they used small robot jockeys with remote controlled whips. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good shot of a robot jockey, but they rode on top of the camel's rump. The camels themselves were a breed of Qatari and Sudaniese camels, a hybrid breed that produces the fastest camels. Although their legs looked to be moving in slow motion with their gigantic strides, these guys could peak around 40 mph, and the races that day were five miles. All audience members and owners watched the races while driving their SUVs, and a different race ensued with cars lumbering around haphazardly four to five rows across and jockeying for position. The winning camel has its head rubbed with pure saffron, an extraordinarily expensive herb, and the residue is left to wash off naturally. It is a sign of a winner (and makes the camel smell good too). Here is a video of the first race--you can hear the radio race announcer narrating in arabic:
THE RACES The camel races are a very big deal to the Qataris. These were on a Saturday, and one of the last race sets of the season. Racing camels from UAE, Oman, Saudi, and Qatar were there. About six camels ran each race, the winner of each taking $30,000, a new SUV and other prizes. Second and thirds place received to car but $15,000 and $10,000. Maj. Saeed owns 15 racing camels, but none raced on this particular day. One of his camels would take third place on the following day though, so good for him. Nobody actually rode on the camels; they used small robot jockeys with remote controlled whips. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good shot of a robot jockey, but they rode on top of the camel's rump. The camels themselves were a breed of Qatari and Sudaniese camels, a hybrid breed that produces the fastest camels. Although their legs looked to be moving in slow motion with their gigantic strides, these guys could peak around 40 mph, and the races that day were five miles. All audience members and owners watched the races while driving their SUVs, and a different race ensued with cars lumbering around haphazardly four to five rows across and jockeying for position. The winning camel has its head rubbed with pure saffron, an extraordinarily expensive herb, and the residue is left to wash off naturally. It is a sign of a winner (and makes the camel smell good too). Here is a video of the first race--you can hear the radio race announcer narrating in arabic: 
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