Arabian Camel Racing

Photos: Courtesy by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters, Getty Images, Kai-Henrik Barth & Shutterstock

From 2nd September 2023 to 1st April 2024, the state-of-the-art Al-Shahaniya racecourse will host Arabian camel racing, one of Qatar’s premier activities. Every year since 1973, they started this traditional sport with only 300 camels. In 1990, H.H. The Emir Father ordered it to be held on a new racetrack in Al-Shahaniya, a small hamlet just 40 km from Doha, and it’s now recognised as the sport of the sheikhs and is considered a tournament of high social and economic status.

Race distances vary according to the tournament and can be national or international. The main festival races cover distances of 6, 8 and 10 km, while the others are no longer than 5 km each. The racing camels can reach top speeds of up to 65 km/h on the short course and up to 48 km/h on the endurance course.

The sport of camel racing in Qatar has been revolutionised and today Al Sheehaniya Square has an auditorium with a main terrace, a veterinary clinic, modern camel stalls and a large mosque. It’s also equipped with the latest technology and accessible road networks that allow the sport’s lovers to follow the races while remaining in their cars, as well as state-of-the-art night racing with a state-of-the-art lighting system.

Today jockeys are small toddler-sized robotic riders clothed in a colorful racing silk that delight locals and tourists alike. The operator applies the whip antenna, orders the jockey to pull the reins and encourages the camel through a built-in loudspeaker.

The camel racing sport is considered by the people of Qatar and the GCC as a popular heritage, as the inhabitants have a great appreciation and admiration for this animal, as it has been their means of transport for centuries. Even today, the Emir’s guard continues to ride in herds around the working palace, located in Doha between the Souq Waqif and the Museum of Islamic Art, on the back of Arabian camels.