Qatar breeds prized racing camels for success, glory

Doha - The pool stands next to the hospital, in what looks like a huge agricultural shed with slipways in and out of the water.

Deep in the Qatari desert, Musharif spends his afternoons "swimming" in a large pool that doubles as a jacuzzi, just one of the perks of being a racing camel.
"It's for his muscles, it's good for the speed," shouts one of Musharif's handlers pointing at the water as the calm three-year-old animal is led by a rope along the length of the pool at Tharb camel hospital.
The pool stands next to the hospital, in what looks like a huge agricultural shed with slipways in and out of the water.
The hospital is the only such facility in Qatar.
Situated almost as far west as it is possible to go in Qatar, the hospital is around an hour's drive and a world away from the ultra-modern capital, Doha.
It is found long after the city's skyscrapers have vanished from sight and Doha's sprawling suburbs give way to desert, and only then with some good map-reading skills.
The only clue to its existence are the increasing number of pens filled with resting camels dotted along the dusty highway close to the hospital.
But there is a reason for its remoteness - it is not only a hospital, but also a breeding centre for camels through embryo transfer and artificial insemination and it needs to be isolated to protect its valuable "crops".
"You want a centre like this to be far enough yet accessible to the potential users," said Ahmed Tibary, a professor of veterinary medicine and a consultant at Tharb.
"Far enough because the intent of breeding and producing by embryo transfer, you have to have a little bit of isolation.
"Because eventually this is an institution that will house the top-level camels, so if you are developing embryo transfers you want the top racing camels or the top genetics isolated so it's protected."
In a region where camel racing is big business, Tharb's work is increasingly important, and the first camels bred at the centre are already racing in Qatar.
Tibary admitted that research into breeding camels had "lagged behind" similar work with other animals, but no longer.
"I think it's the future just like we have seen in other species," he said.
Artificial breeding means owners of camels being sent to stud can command increasingly high prices.
The current big star in the sport is a six-year-old known as "Al Jazeera", who would be "priceless" at stud, agree camel owners gathered at the hub for camel racing in Qatar - the Al Shahaniya track.

• Qatar