In pictures: Desert horse-racing

As the sun sets behind the red sandstone escarpments that mark Bamako's northern limit, the spectators wind their way home.

Race meetings have been held at the Bamako Hippodrome since 1945.

But horses have been part of Malian culture since at least the 14th to the 16th centuries, when the Mali and Songhai empires were renowned for their cavalries.

Photographs: Julian Richards