Al Haboob Taking Positives from Crown Prince Camel Festival in Bid for Successful Season
Kafo and Al Shoroud represented Al Haboob across two races at the eighth Crown Prince Camel Festival in Taif, which also featured the first Al Haboob Majlis
Team now turns focus to training and preparation ahead of upcoming races in Saudi Arabia and across the region
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (الهَبُوب), the world’s first professional camel racing team, has taken valuable learnings from the prestigious Crown Prince Camel Festival in Taif as it looks to build momentum through the 2026 racing season.
Kafo and Al Shoroud represented the team across two races at the festival, Al Haboob’s first competitive outings of the season. The races provided valuable experience and insights for the team, which will now be used to inform its preparations as it continues to build towards the season ahead.
The eighth edition of the Crown Prince Camel Festival, one of the Kingdom’s largest and most prestigious camel racing events, featured 248 races and more than SAR 50 million in prize money. For Al Haboob, the competition provided an opportunity to assess the camels in a demanding race environment and identify areas for improvement across fitness, training, nutrition and preparation.
For a team still building its competitive foundations, the experience in Taif will now feed directly into the next phase of its programme, with ongoing fitness, nutritional and veterinary assessments informing preparations for upcoming races. Particular focus will be placed on endurance and ensuring the camels are ready to perform in the noise, traffic and pressure of a competitive racing environment.
The week also marked an important moment away from the track, with Al Haboob hosting its inaugural Majlis in Taif. Bringing together members of the camel racing community, the event provided an opportunity to celebrate the sport’s heritage while discussing its continued development in the Kingdom and its potential to reach new audiences globally.
Safwan Modir, Co-Founder and Head of Operations at Al Haboob, said: “Every time we race, we understand more about our camels, our preparation and the team around them. Taif showed us where we are today and, just as importantly, where we need to improve. We’ll take those lessons back into training and use them to prepare properly for the races ahead. This is a long-term journey and there is a lot for us to build on.”
For Al Haboob Co-Founder and Head of Creative, Omar Almaeena, the experience in Taif underlined the scale of the challenge ahead, while also reinforcing the team’s ambitions for the sport beyond the racetrack.
He said: “You learn a lot when you put yourself up against the best, and Taif showed us exactly where we need to improve. That is part of building a competitive team and we know there is plenty of work ahead of us. Away from the racing, hosting our first Majlis was a really special moment. It brought together people who care deeply about camel racing and gave us a chance to talk about where the sport can go next. For us, both sides of Al Haboob are important and there is a lot more we want to achieve.”
Al Haboob will now return to training ahead of the next stage of its 2026 programme, with planned appearances in Qatar and the UAE later this year, followed by the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival in Al-Sayahid in December and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Camel Festival at Al Janadriyah Camel Racecourse in Riyadh in January 2027.
About Al Haboob
Based in Saudi Arabia, Al Haboob (الهَبُوب) is the world’s first professional camel racing team, blending heritage with elite performance and advanced veterinary science. Founded by Omar Almaeena and Safwan Modir, the team is on a mission to modernise camel breeding, elevate the sport to a global stage, and build it into a broader sports and entertainment platform – laying the foundations for the world’s first professional Camel Racing League.
