Camels at the 38th annual Al Marmoom Heritage Festival in Dubai. Satish Kumar / The National
Camels at the 38th annual Al Marmoom Heritage Festival in Dubai. Satish Kumar / The National
Camels at the 38th annual Al Marmoom Heritage Festival in Dubai. Satish Kumar / The National
Camels at the 38th annual Al Marmoom Heritage Festival in Dubai. Satish Kumar / The National

Thousands flock to Dubai camel tournament


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Makhlaba the camel’s very existence proved to be luck of the draw.

Some four years ago her owner, Yahya Abdullah, entered a raffle to mate his finest Sudanese she-camel with a famed stud owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the Crown Prince of Dubai.

Of the hundreds of people who entered the competition, it was Mr Abdullah whose name was selected.

And so the rare opportunity arose for him to breed a camel with links to the royal family. Makhlaba was the result of that fateful meeting.

Camels at the 38th annual Al Marmoom Heritage Festival in Dubai. Satish Kumar / The National
Camels at the 38th annual Al Marmoom Heritage Festival in Dubai. Satish Kumar / The National

“I can’t say why I love her,” said Mr Abdullah, who at the time travelled some 500km to Dubai from his desert ranch in Al Sharqiya, Oman, to arrange the mating.

“There’s nothing particularly exceptional about her. It’s just that I love her from my heart.”

Today, Makhlaba has finally come of age and has returned to the emirate to compete in the 38th annual Al Marmoom Heritage Festival.

The prestigious meet is the final tournament in the Gulf camel race winter calendar, which traditionally runs from September through to April.

Makhlaba is one of 14,000 camels competing for prize money totalling Dh153 million. Winners are awarded everything from cash to swords, to camel saddles and luxury vehicles.

On Saturday, Makhlaba took part in a race alongside other two-year-olds as part of the festival's opening events. As the meet progresses, the camels tend to get faster and pricier, meaning potential buyers have a sharp eye out for a bargain early on.

“It’s the beginning of a camel’s racing life and so it’s the cheapest time to buy,” said Salem Hashemi, 45, a breeder from Al Sharqiya.

It is Mr Abdullah’s hope that Makhlaba will remain in Dubai following the festival.

If she does well over the next few days she could catch the eye of a sheikh, join a royal herd and receive the best training money can buy.

Camels at the 38th annual Al Marmoom Heritage Festival in Dubai. Satish Kumar / The National
Camels at the 38th annual Al Marmoom Heritage Festival in Dubai. Satish Kumar / The National

On the eve of the tournament, the UAE’s camel racing federation sent a text message to owners: Sheikh Hamdan would offer Dh1.2million for the best female two-year-old, and Dh800,000 for the best male.

“That would be a fitting price for Makhlaba,” said Mr Abdullah. “Everything is prepared but nobody knows fate.”

As the sun rose over the race track on Saturday, the event was packed tight with dozens of owners and breeders drinking coffee in their 4x4s.

The majority had travelled 500km from Al Sharqiya, a region well-known for having the greatest race camel breeders in the Gulf.

“There is no man who has come here who wouldn’t sell,” said Mr Abdullah, surveying the competition at the starting line.

Makhlaba is considered a strong candidate and Mr Abdullah has cared for her since the day he delivered her.

Already she has won a Chevrolet Tahoe 4x4 in a race in Kuwait in February as well as Dh150,000 at a tournament in Saudi Arabia last month.

But the Marmoom festival is not just for the swift, it is for the strong. By the end of the season temperatures can hit 40 degrees C.

As it turned out, Makhlaba did not place in the top five but it may not matter. Every race was filmed by onlookers and scrutinised later via via social media, with the pros and cons of each young camel discussed at length between buyers.

With a bit of luck, Makhlaba will still be noticed and could yet go on to become a household name. Mr Abdulla remains optimistic. After all, Makhlaba was born lucky.

**********

Races run every day from now until April 18 from 6.30am until 10.00am and between 2.30pm to 5.30pm at the Al Marmoom camel race track on the Dubai-Al Ain road.

There are no races on Friday, April 12 or the morning of Thursday, April 18. A market and folk art performances will be at the Heritage Village from 6pm until 10pm.

The specs: 2019 Infiniti QX50

Price, base: Dh138,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.0L, turbocharged, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 268hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 380Nm @ 4,400rpm
Fuel economy: 6.7L / 100km (estimate)

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Key developments

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Key facilities
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  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
If you go

Flying

Despite the extreme distance, flying to Fairbanks is relatively simple, requiring just one transfer in Seattle, which can be reached directly from Dubai with Emirates for Dh6,800 return.

 

Touring

Gondwana Ecotours’ seven-day Polar Bear Adventure starts in Fairbanks in central Alaska before visiting Kaktovik and Utqiarvik on the North Slope. Polar bear viewing is highly likely in Kaktovik, with up to five two-hour boat tours included. Prices start from Dh11,500 per person, with all local flights, meals and accommodation included; gondwanaecotours.com 

THE TWIN BIO

Their favourite city: Dubai

Their favourite food: Khaleeji

Their favourite past-time : walking on the beach

Their favorite quote: ‘we rise by lifting others’ by Robert Ingersoll

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Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa

Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong

Rating: 3/5

Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt

Match info

Huddersfield Town 0

Chelsea 3
Kante (34'), Jorginho (45' pen), Pedro (80')

Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

Torque: 985Nm

Price: From Dh439,000

Available: Now

Another way to earn air miles

In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.

An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.

“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick

Hometown: Cologne, Germany

Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)

Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes

Favourite hobby: Football

Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk

Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier

Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman

The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August

 

Group A

Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar

 

Group B

UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

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Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

HOW TO WATCH

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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
SPECS
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Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

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Braun Strowman beats Bobby Lashley

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Mansoor Al Shehail won the 50-man Battle Royal

The Undertaker beat Goldberg

 

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The biog

Birthday: February 22, 1956

Born: Madahha near Chittagong, Bangladesh

Arrived in UAE: 1978

Exercise: At least one hour a day on the Corniche, from 5.30-6am and 7pm to 8pm.

Favourite place in Abu Dhabi? “Everywhere. Wherever you go, you can relax.”

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