Al Bashayer Festival

The 4th Annual Edition of the Al Bashayer Arabian Camel Racing Festival kicks-off tomorrow (Monday) at 7 am with the first event, a Two-Year-Old race over 4 kms, a taster, an entrée, for almost sixty other events across the remainder of the week, culminating in a Grand Final Afternoon when the crème de la crème of the GCC camel racing bloodstock will compete for outstanding prize money, premium motor vehicles, amazing trophies, and of course, the prestige of being the best of the best.

The event is held under the auspices of His Highness Sayyid Asaad bin Tarik al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Affairs, Personal Representative of His Majesty the Sultan, an avid enthusiast of the sport who recently noted that “The Al Bashayer Festival represents the premier sporting, social and cultural values of the Sultanate.”

racing glory

Khalid bin Sultan al Junaibi is the on-course announcer for the racing, and prior to each race-day, he will host a studio discussion featuring special guests, officials, owners, breeders, and trainers, where they will discuss the upcoming races and identify likely winners and placegetters. This is no small task as, pending the final announcement of the fields thousands of the region’s fastest racing camels will descend upon the sleepy Wilayat of Adam in search of camel racing glory. Local owners whose colours are expected to be prominent during the week’s racing include Obaid bin Said al Junaibi, Abdullah bin Tawerish al Wahaibi and Obaid bin Mohammed al Wahaibi.

The morning races begin at 7 am, and the afternoon races at 2 pm under the stewardship of the Oman Camel Racing Federation, while preparations will be under way well in advance of those timings, and the racing on Monday is for two-year-old over 4 km, on Tuesday is for three-year-old over 5 km, Wednesday for four-year-old over 6 km, and the five-year-old and over race at the end of the week on Thursday, in the morning only, over 8 kms.

prize list

While a liberal sprinkling of premier motor vehicles will grace the prize list for the first four days, it is Finals Day, featuring the highest graded camels, will see competition for the Al Bashayer Trophies and Khanjars in the morning. The Grand Finals in the afternoon will see the elite camel athletes compete for a Silver Sword and FJ Cruiser, and a Golden Sword and Toyota Land Cruiser.

The Al Bashayer Camel Track, near Adam, in Al Dakhiliyah, will resonate to the pounding hooves of camels loping gracefully at the head of a massive cloud of dust, accompanied by the roar of their escort vehicles circumnavigating the inside of the track, their horns blasting, as the tiny robots, resplendent in the camel owner’s special combination of colours, encourage the camels to run faster with a limited number of padded whip strokes, or to audible encouragement via microphone. It’s all so exciting, so much fun, and if you have never been before, pack the family in the car and check it out!