The 'Al-Liqaya' category of the Crown Prince Camel Festival 2026 opened on Sunday with Saudi camels taking top honors in 8 of the 14 heats contested, as 531 mounts participated on the historic Taif racecourse, according to reports.
Qatari camels secured second place with three victories, while Oman, the UAE, and Kuwait each recorded a single win in this category, which offers total prizes of 10.850 million riyals. In the main heat for 'Bakar - General', the Qatari-owned 'Fay' claimed first place with a time of 6:24.272 minutes, while Kuwaiti-owned 'Al-Jathab' won the 'Qadan - General' title, posting the best time of the opening day at 6:20.717 minutes.
The festival, which began last Thursday and runs until September 13, is organized by the Saudi Camel Federation and features prizes exceeding 50 million riyals. 'Al-Liqaya' is the second age category in the competition, comprising 64 heats over a distance of 4 kilometers each, totaling 256 kilometers.
The category will conclude next Tuesday with six heats for the Crown Prince Festival Cups, offering prizes worth 5.7 million riyals. The organizing committee has allocated 500,000 riyals for the 'Bakar - Open' champion, 400,000 riyals for 'Qadan - Open', 700,000 riyals for 'Bakar - General', and 500,000 riyals for 'Qadan - General', while the Saudi Production Cup offers 500,000 riyals for 'Bakar - General' and 400,000 riyals for 'Qadan - General'.