In the presence of Sultan bin Hamdan…the conclusion of the activities of the annual camel racing festival 2026 in Al Wathba
ABU DHABI, 21st May / WAM / The competitions of the 47th edition of the annual festival of purebred Arabian camel racing, “Al Wathba Finals” 2026, were concluded this evening at Al Wathba Square in Abu Dhabi.
Al Shahaniya camels were able to win the Golden Sword through “Al Dhabi” under the supervision of racer Jaber Salem bin Faran Al Marri, in the open year round, after a strong competition with “Dawla” under the supervision of racer Sultan Al Wahaibi, which was crowned with last year’s symbol, before retreating in the second half of the half.
Over the course of 11 days, the festival achieved great success with the participation of the elite camel riders of Their Highnesses the Sheikhs, the sons of the state and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The camels of Al-Shahaniya and Al-Rasiya shared the victory on the closing day by obtaining the symbols of Al-Hawl and Al-Zumul for the camels of Their Highnesses the Sheikhs, for a distance of 8 km.
His Excellency Sheikh Sultan bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, Advisor to His Highness the President of the State, President of the Camel Racing Federation, and Chairman of the Supreme Organizing Committee, witnessed the final day’s competitions, in the presence of Sheikh Rashid bin Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Presidential Aviation Authority.
The half competition resulted in a record for the first time with the best time in the history of camel racing, breaking the previous record recorded in the last edition by “Dawla”, after “Al Dhabi” recorded 11:44:25 minutes, a difference of fractions of a second from the previous record of 11:44:74 minutes.
“Al-Haba” for the Al-Sheehaniya camel, supervised by drummer Faran Hamad Qurai, came in second place, recording 11:45:52 minutes, and third place was “Rimas” for the presidential camel, supervised by drummer Sultan Muhammad Al-Wahaibi, with a time of 11:47:47 minutes.
The Presidency’s camels excelled in the open Zamoul round, and snatched the race symbol through “Nihab”, by harvesting the Zamoul rifle. The half also witnessed the control of the Presidency’s camels in the top three places, which confirms the clear brilliance of the Presidency’s camels during the Al Wathba Festival, and to complete the double after winning the traditional Marmoum Khatami sword last month.
Presidential camel racer Hamdan Mohammed bin Murushid shined with “Nihab”, after winning the same symbol in last year’s edition with “Al Shababi”, recording 12:24:76 minutes, more than a second ahead of “Muazzaz”, under the supervision of racer Sultan Al Wahaibi. Also, racer Hamdan bin Murushid excelled to take third place in the race with “Al Shababi”, the gun-wielding one last year, with a time of 12:26:15 minutes.
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