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Some of the fastest Arabian saluki dogs gathered at Al Dhafra Festival on Tuesday, 30.12.2014, for one of the last races at this years 10 days festival, in the desert surroundings of Madinat Zayed, the Western Region of Abu Dhabi emirate.

Despite the strong wind, 15 male salukis lined up at the start of the track, normally used for camel racing. They were to challenge each other over a two kilometers track. In just over two minutes, the race was over, the fastest male saluki, black haired Takhteet, belonging to Emirati Mansour Taj Al Balouchi, crossing the finishing line in 2.18.66. He was followed by Matfi, a red hair saluki owned by Mohammed Saif Markhan of UAE, and Jalmood, a grey hair saluki, belonging to Abdul Rahman Al Sulaity from Qatar, arriving in third place.

Soon afterwards, it was the time for the female saluki to race over the same two kilometers track, and, surprisingly, the top winner beat the male record. Fazaah, a grey saluki owned by Emirati Jaber Awad Al Mansouri, crossed the finishing line in two minutes 13 seconds and 31 milliseconds. Second place in the female category was won by Waqatt, also belonging to Jaber Awad Al Mansouri, while third place was taken by Shafra, owned by Ibrahim Salim Al Saadi of UAE.

Over long distance, salukis are known to be the fastest of all dog breeds. In 1996, the Guinness Book of Records entered on its list the fastest saluki, who reached a speed of 68.8 kilometers per hour.
Believed to have its origins in China, saluki was among the first breed of dogs to be domesticated. In Arabia, they have been used by Bedouin people for thousands of years for hunting. Able to catch rabbits, hares and even gazelles, the desert hounds were so valued and loved by the Arabs that they allowed the dogs to share the living quarters with them.

Very intelligent, sensitive and often shy, saluki is a breed apart. They do not like playing fetch or doing the usual dog tricks. Instead, they love being outdoors, running and playing.

Pure Arabian salukis are formidable hunters, although their training requires patience and time. In the old days, Bedouins would often hunt with both saluki and falcons, who used to work with each other perfectly, cornering their prey in a bush before catching it.
Nowadays, hunting no longer being allowed in UAE, saluki are mostly companion dogs, their extraordinary skills and speed being shown only during races such as this one, at Al Dhafra Festival.

After pre-qualifications race on December 23rd, the Challenge, the final race on December 30th, crowned five winners in each category male and female.
Only pure bred Arabian salukis were allowed to enter the competition and they had to be at least one year old. The first winner in each category drove away with a brand new 4x4 car, while the second winner received AED 30,000, the third AED 20,000 and both fourth and fifth places walked away with AED 5000.

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