Camel Cup Fever - Alice Springs

Once through the entrance gate, a noticeable lack of betting tents is replaced by bars, a petting zoo, and various pancake, hot dog, kranski and doughnut stalls ranged around the cameldrome arena. The origin of the Cup is shrouded in different versions but essentially arose from a bet between two camel riders back in 1971, however some say the first race was between a cow and a camel. The cow won because her calf was tethered behind the finishing line. 

Roll up, roll up for the races:

A couple of floats from the Henley on Todd regatta, one manned by buccaneers, the other by Vikings, drive around wreaking havoc. 

A buxom female Viking has an enlarged bosom with a trick nipple which she uses to lure passers by who draw close and are squirted with water.

The camels are looking calm in their paddock, just the occasional flying hoof keeps everyone on their toes.

The grand parade starts with a camel procession, at first all looks to go well, but two of the dozen camels decide midway to hoof it in the opposite direction, causing mirth and mayhem.

The day progresses with a series of qualifier races. The start requires the camels to kneel before the off is given. However, not all camels obey, so the start is a bit chaotic with a couple of camels dropping a rider, turning tail, reversing, or simply stalling. 

Once the survivors have thundered off, they gallop along, riders perched high on the back, whips cracking, all the way to the finish. 

Clouds of dust are everywhere and for the big XXXX Lasseter's Camel Cup race of the day, noone seems to know who won...so what, we had fun. 

Update
The winner was Roman Ruma Ruma, winning the Cup for the third consecutive time. He was trained by Peter Hodge and ridden by mother-of-four Karen Catto, who was back in racing stripes for the first time since 2009.

The camels come from a couple of farms, one near Alice is where we plan a camel ride, more walk than race. Perhaps we'll dine out there with a camelburger.