ALULA: After four fierce days of competition, the second annual AlUla Camel Cup ended with the prize pool for Saturday’s two concluding races amounting to SR24 million ($6.4 million) — a record in the history of camel racing.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif Al-Saud were in attendance and presented the trophies to the winners.
The prize pool for the 16 races across the four days of racing reached more than SR80 million.
The four-day event, organized by the Royal Commission for AlUla as part of the AlUla Moments calendar, was hosted in partnership with the Saudi Camel Racing Federation.
The Mughayra Heritage Sports Village was filled with spectators.
The final day saw the Hail and Zmoul races, both 8 km long.
The big winners was Qatari stable Hijin Alshahaneyah, which claimed the competition’s two main trophies and a total of SR15 million — with SR7.5 million for each victory.
In the Zmoul race, Sarmad won with a time of 13 minutes, 34 seconds. In the Hail event, Hijin Alshahaneyah’s camel Risalah won with a time of 13 minutes, 18 seconds.
Heritage Village, a stone’s throw away from the race tracks, showcased live performers and local vendors as well as family activities.
“Like our inaugural edition last year, our celebration of the camel at this year’s event went beyond sport; highlighting culture, history, arts, craft, music and more, and how the ‘ships of the desert’ represent an integral part of our identity,” Abeer Al-Akel, acting CEO of the Royal Commission for AlUla, said.
She added: “The AlUla Camel Cup has welcomed thousands of visitors from near and far, successfully weaving tradition and modernity, as well as sport and culture, into an event leaving memories to last a lifetime. In just two years, the AlUla Camel Cup has not just become a prominent feature of our AlUla Moments calendar, but also Saudi Arabia’s annual event calendar. We look forward to welcoming everyone to the third edition of the AlUla Camel Cup in 2025, in what we promise will be an even bigger and better event.”
On the final day of the races, Arts AlUla announced the culmination of the AlUla Design Award Al-Ajilah special edition. The AlUla Design Award has been dedicated to finding exceptional design within the region and beyond — inspired by the heritage, landscapes and artistic legacies of AlUla. Since the UN and the Saudi Ministry of Culture designated 2024 as the Year of the Camel, the designs were based on that theme.
“The competition witnessed innovations from creative designers who participated in a unique and inspiring collection of camel cover designs. The winners were Maryam Al-Hamid from Qatar and Ismail Huteit from Lebanon,” a statement said.
Selected via an open call, the awards invited established as well as emerging designers to come forward with a conceptualized design. The jury was made of recognized local design leaders: Princess Nourah bint Mohammed Al-Faisal; Burak Cakmak, CEO of the Saudi Fashion Commission; Abdullah Al-Shammari, the director of Heritage Sports; Basma Bouzo, the CEO of &bouqu; and Najla Al-Otaibi of the RCU.
The winning proposals will be commissioned, produced and promoted within AlUla.
