The Bay Nui bull racing festival in general and at the Ro Pagoda racetrack (An Cu commune, An Giang province) in particular, has long become a unique cultural - sports - religious piece of the Khmer people in That Son region. Every festival opening, thousands of eyes are focused on dramatic competitions, where four-legged "athletes" show off their muscle strength and wisdom in each sprint before the finish line.
The sprints as if surfing on a waterlogged field create magnificent bouquets of water lilies, captivating fans. However, behind those sublime moments dedicated to the audience is an extremely elaborate care art, containing many secret "tricks" of the artists raising That Son race cows.
To have the most abundant physical strength before the opening hour, the fighting cows accelerate care work. Not only stopping at caring for and monitoring every health development on the training ground, the pair cow owners also apply a completely different level of preferential treatment. Each cow owner has their own care secret. Especially, for those who have won the championship, this process is even more focused on.
Mr. Nguyen Oanh Liet (born in 1960, Phu Tam hamlet, Tinh Bien ward) is considered a special individual in the community when he has only participated in this playground for 10 years (2016 - 2026) but has owned more than 20 large and small prizes in various arenas. Among them, the most admirable is stepping onto the highest podium of the Bay Nui Bull Racing Tournament 3 times in 2016, 2017 and 2019. According to the instructions of Mr. Liet's family, we witnessed the "VIP" bull racing care process here.
After leaving the training ground, the bulls are taken to rest in solid barns, and at night mosquito nets are set up to absolutely prevent insects and mosquitoes from disturbing their deep sleep. The basic energy source of the bulls comes from fresh grass carpets, carefully selected by their owners, carefully cared for and completely free from pesticides.
As the competition day approaches, the nutritional diet of cows is pushed to the maximum level. In addition to cooked porridge mixed with bran broth to nourish, cow owners also launch a "secret weapon": a mixture of fresh chicken eggs beaten with beer. This unique drink is considered a powerful catalyst to stimulate digestion, enhance blood circulation and accelerate energy intake, awakening the speed instinct inside each cow.
Under the meticulous, experienced and deeply attached hands of the owners, each pair of cows has gone beyond the concept of ordinary livestock to become the pride of families and villages. All are burning with enthusiasm, not only ready to explode on the racetrack, bringing the audience to the Ro Pagoda Cattle Racing Festival 2026, which officially kicks off on September 13th, many beautiful moments, but also suggesting and contributing to enriching the treasure of animal husbandry in the Southern Land.
