In a previous post I told you about our visit to a camel farm. The camels were being bred for racing.

There is a camel racing track on the edge of the city. I haven’t seen camel racing live, however Al Rayyan, one of the local TV channels broadcasts races.

Alongside the racetrack, owners speed along in their SUVs controlling robot jockeys via remote controls.

In the past small boys were used as jockeys. Injuries were very common and serious injuries very frequent. This practice has now been banned in Qatar and instead they use robots which have small hinged arms that control the whip and the reins. This short film explains more.

At some point we will have a day at the races… I will report back.