BARKA, OCT 5
‘Hamloolah’, owned by Mohammed al Habsi, snatched the second day honours of the first general camel race in Barka on Saturday, which will continue for three days. It marked the second day’s start of the 22nd edition of the annual camel races for the 2024-2025 season, with 89 rounds to be held in Barka and Adam fields. The event is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and organised by the Oman Camel Racing Federation (OCRF) in cooperation with the Royal Camel Corps (RCC).
The OCRF’s Board of Directors recently announced 23 local events: 13 general races, three races sponsored by Shell Oman, three races sponsored by Occidental Oman, and four events featuring camel beauty contests, milking competitions and Ardah (traditional races).
As many as 2,500 camels are competing in the first race to get the race prize, a cash prize for the top 10 and a chance to sell the winning camels to the GCC countries.
The first day, Friday, witnessed 36 rounds divided equally between Barka and Adam, dedicated to the ‘Hagayeg’ category, two years old, over a distance of 3 km.
On the second day of competition, 27 rounds were held: 12 rounds in Adam and 12 rounds in Barka for the ‘Laqaya’ category, three years old, over a distance of 4 km. Also, Barka field will host three rounds for human riders' races for 2 km.
‘Hamloolah’, owned by Mohammed al Habsi, won the first race. In the second race, ‘Haflah’ came first, owned by Hamood al Ghfaili. The third race was won by ‘Shaheen’, owned by Abdulah al Oasi. The fourth race was won by ‘Hamloolah’, owned by Saleh al Wahibi, the fifth race was won by ‘Asayha’, owned by Swydan al Malki. ‘Al Nashmi’, owned by Ghareeb al Junaybi, won the sixth race. In the seventh race, ‘Hamloolah’, owned by Ali al Balushi, bagged the top place; ‘Ealan’, owned by Bader al Daree, won the eighth race, ‘Sayaf’, owned by Said al Harthy, came first in the ninth race and the tenth race award was snatched by ‘Al Dhabi’, owned by Al Sageyar al Zarei. In the 11th race, ‘Nodha’, owned by Salim al Mushaqri, was the winner; ‘Monseef’, owned by Abdulaziz al Wahibi, came second.
The third day, today, will witness 26 rounds divided equally between Barka and Adam, with 12 rounds for the ‘Al Ythaa’ category, four years old, for 5 km, six rounds for the ‘Al Thanaya’ category, five years old, over a distance of 6 km, and eight rounds allocated for the ‘Al Hawl’ category, above six years, for 6 km.
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