SANDRACER.COM - Camel Racing

Camel Racing

Professional camel racing is quite a popular sport in Australia and some Middle Eastern Arab states and attracts it's fair share of foreign tourists. Gladly, some of those tourists were journalists who likewise were disgusted to learn of the barbaric practise of the child slaves used as jockeys in some Middle Eastern countries such as the UAE and Qatar, and published what was really going on.

Young children were sold on by their terribly poor parents, or kidnapped (30 a month), some as young as 2 years old, while out playing near their homes in the Indian sub-continent, Pakistan and the Sudan and forced to work as camel jockeys. Escape was futile, they were told their parents were dead, or told their owners were their parents. Most never even knew where they were from either way.

These young boys were made by way of a beating and starvation, to tend the camels 7 days a week, even in the searing heat of the afternoon sun, where their owners and/or camel trainers would not even dare to work. The child jockeys were not fed properly, if atall, for days before a race, to keep their weight down. Many child jockeys were severely injured riding camels for their sub-human masters, some even killed.

The injured racing camel is treated at special animal hospitals, no expense was spared by their rich Sheikh owners. The injured child jockeys allegedly got no such treatment, instead they were discarded and replaced. The intervention of Unicef has been instrumental in eradicating the practise of slave child camel jockeyship, so we're told.

Robotic jockeys have gladly taken the place of the child slaves in more recent times. Let's hope it stays that way.

Camel races are held between the winter months of October to April, finishing with the annual camel race festival on the sand at Al Wathba, UAE. The meeting attracts entrants from all over the world.

The fastest sprint racing camels can run at speeds of up to 40mp/h, or 64km/h) in short bursts. The camel can also steadily maintain speeds of 25mp/h, or 40 km/h, for about an hour at a time.

Camel racing is a long time traditional sport with roots in the Arab Peninsula, the North African deserts and across the Middle East. The races were originally staged anywhere in the desert really, but now camel race meetings are held at specially built racetracks.

Camels are better known as ships of the East and have played a vital role in the region for many aspects of every day life. Desert racing among the Bedouin Arabs remains a lucrative spectator sport.

Over the years, as technology replaced the camel, camel racing became more popular as a result. Gambling on camel races is not allowed in the UAE, but no such restrictions stop the Australians from betting on camel race results. I gather one should study the form very very carefully before placing a bet. Go figure.

The UAE Camel Racing Association developed the first camel racing robot after the use of child jockeys was banned in the state in March 2004. In July of 2005, the age limit for human camel racing jockeys was increased to 18.

The camel racing robots are remote controlled via handheld radio units. The robots have mechanical legs for balancing and leaning and mechanical arms to control the reins. The first automatic camel racing jockeys were used at the Al Wathba camel racetrack in Abu Dubai in April, 2005.

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