Dubai, 27 January 2021: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; and His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, witnessed the second edition of the ‘Camel Trek Race – 2021’ for UAE expats held at Dubai’s Al Marmoom racetrack on Wednesday 

Organised by the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center (HHC) and held in conjunction with the Arabian Camel Festival, under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan, the annual camel race for UAE expats saw the participation of 17 camel riders from 12 countries, including Italy, Germany, Iran, the United States, Spain, China, the Czech Republic, France, the United Kingdom, Romania, South Africa and Finland.

Italian national Camilla Rodriguez won first place after achieving the fastest times in the one-kilometre race, recording a time of 1 minute 38 seconds, followed by French-Japanese Anna Aiko in second place while Chinese national Xiaozhe Huo (Alexis) came in third place.

Hind bin Demaithan Al Qemzi, HHC Director of Events, expressed pride and gratitude for the presence of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.

Al Qemzi said: “Similar to last season, the HHC organised a trial race to assess the capability of the participants. They were participants in the previous Camel Treks organised by the HHC.  The riders came from various nationalities – a testament to the growing popularity of camel racing among peoples of the world.”

Prizes

Cash prizes given to the winners. Rodriguez received Dh 100,000; Aiko, Dh50,000 and Huo,  Dh30,000. Fourth placer got  Dh15,000;  fifth place, Dh10,000 and those who finished from sixth to tenth place each received Dh5,000. dirhams.

Participants

The list of participants in the race included: Italian Camilla Rodriguez, German Linda Krokenberger, Iranian Farnoush Ezatollah, American Alexander Raspberry, Spaniard Ignacio Delgado, German Jana Schimedel, Chinese Xiaozhe Huo (Alexis), Czech Danossi Zdenkova, French (Japanese) Anna Aiko, British Shirley Wilkinson, Romanian Rluca Gossav, the French Emily Chapant, the German Martin Kaiser, the South African Marian Valero, the German Denise Ostermann, Finnish Rabab El Guwiri, the British Jodie Mercati.