The Sojourner

One beast that is highly revered here in the Emirates is the camel.  They are lovingly raised for meat, milk, and racing.  Today, we shall have a look at the kyphotic thoroughbreds.

The race season here takes place during the cooler winter months on most Fridays and Saturdays.  The camels run on large courses that consist of concentric tracks bordered by a paved road.  The reason for the concentric circles is that camels will not cross a start-finish line like a horse and this way they are able to always run on a new section of the track.

The roadway adjacent to the track enables control of the running beasts.  Many years ago the jockeys were small, young boys of around five years of age from the subcontinent.  Since child labor is rather out-of-fashion, the jockeys are now radio-controlled, cordless drills with a whip connected where the bit would normally be placed.  Under those flashy silks is the lionheart of a Makita or a DeWalt.  The owners of the camels follow them in air-conditioned SUV's and spur them on with the electric jockey when necessary.

Camels can be unruly so there large numbers of handlers to control them, warm them up, and get them to the course on time.  Even so, sometimes they just insist on stopping and squaring off with another competitor.

When they run, they have a loping, splayed gate that is not too graceful.  The ungainliness does not prevent them from achieving speeds of up to 65 km/h.  This is very impressive since camels are most often seen moving very slowly in the desert while they conserve energy and keep their metabolisms low in the extreme conditions.

Camel racing takes place in most of the kingdoms of the Arabian Peninsula.  The owners are primarily royalty who spare no expense on these champions of the sand.  Individual animals have sold for several hundred thousand dirhams at auction.  Here it is truly the sport of kings.