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MAKKAH: On behalf of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal crowned, on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, the winners of the races held on the closing day of the 3rd Crown Prince Camel Festival, which was organized by the Saudi Camel Federation at Taif Camel Square.

The festival’s closing day saw the holding of 4 rounds for the Heil and Zumul category with the participation of 93 camels, while each of the rounds spanned 6 km.

The young male camels “Meblesh” of Hamad bin Jarallah Al-Buraidi and “Meshwesh” of Hejen Al-Asifa won the Zumul rounds, while the young female camels “Al-Zabara” of Hejen Al-Siliya and “Jouf” of Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd won the Heil rounds.

At the end of the four rounds, Al-Faisal, in the presence of Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed, crowned the winners of the 20 rounds that were held as part of the final stage of the festival, in addition to the rounds that were held on Saturday.

The winners of the final stage were “Lawahez” of Prince Abdulaziz bin Saudi bin Naif, “Nayaf” of Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd, “Yaqin” of Sulaiman Salamah Al-Jehni, “Daoud” of Saudi Bronx, which is owned by the American Qassem Abu Nasser, “Al-Tamas” of Hejen Al-Taylat, “Jabal Dukhan” of Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifah, “Kafa” of Sulaiman Abdullah bin Salim, “Lusail” of Hejen Al-Siliya, “Buruq” of Hejen Al-Shahanyah, “Nawaf” of Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd, “Mukhifa” of Amer bin Rashid Al-Marri, “Masfout” of Abdulaziz bin Hamad Al-Marri, “Sinjar” of Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd, “Al-Daayen” of Hejen Al-Shahanyah, “Bashayer” of Ali bin Jamil Al-Wuhaibi and “Nasnas” of Ahmed bin Matar Al-Khaili.

This year’s edition of the festival also set a new Guinness World Record, with the largest number of camels participating in a camel festival in the world. It broke the previous records set during the first and second editions of the festival, as 14,843 camels participated in this year’s competitions. In total, 7,870 camels took part in the preliminary stage, while 6,973 camels raced in the final stage.

The festival has allocated financial prizes that are among the largest in any racing sport, with their total value coming in at SR53 million ($14.1 million), while hundreds of the most famous local and international camel owners have competed in them. The festival has also allocated SR1 million for the Crown Prince’s Sword Award, which is awarded to the owner of the camel that scores the most points during the festival’s public runs.