The camels at the start line growl and grunt before the gate goes up, then stretch out their long necks and gallop along the sandy track.
“Yah! Yah! Yah!” shouts one camel owner from a car next to the racetrack in Taif, southwestern Saudi Arabia, banging on the car door to urge on animal and jockey alike.
Welcome to the Crown Prince Camel Festival, an event that has been dubbed the Grand Prix of camel racing, where camels race some 250 laps for prizes worth US$13 million.
This camel festival, held in honour of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is now in its sixth year and is on par with the richest horse races worldwide. It has come to be recognised as a serious international sport and a great tourist attraction in several Middle Eastern countries. This year, some 21,000 camels are taking part.
For centuries, camel racing has been male-dominated, but women are now breaking into the sport, with support from a pioneering German woman.