Racing on the Yukon.

Teams race along the Yukon River for first place, plus a “lost dog” update and two more mushers scratch from Iditarod 38

Lance Mackey continues to hunt down Jeff King in what could become one of Iditarod’s greatest rivalries. King has announced his retirement from the Iditarod after this year and has already pre-sold his dogs for when the race is over. This is King’s last shot to attain a record-tying fifth victory, something only done by one other musher, Rick Swenson in 1991. Mackey seeks to create history of his own though, crossing the finish line first next week in Nome would mean Mackey would be the only musher to ever win four back-to-back victories, and it would put him in a great position to go after that fifth or sixth win. It’s not just those two though who we could see winning this year’s Iditarod, Mitch Seavey. Hugh Neff and Hans Gatt are within striking distance and now that most of the mandatory layovers are out of the way, the rest of the race will likely be decided on each team’s schedule – how long they run, and how much they rest. There are still big, bold moves to be made the run schedules, which means the tight field of about 15 top teams could also catch up with the leaders and walk away with the first place trophy. King left the checkpoint of Ruby early this afternoon and headed out onto the Yukon River making his way to Galena and then Nulato. Mackey departed an hour later.

One of the most impressive teams we’re watching right now is that of Rick Swenson, the previously mentioned 5-time Iditarod winner who continues to post some of the fastest and strongest times between checkpoints. The 59-year old from Two Rivers Alaska hasn’t placed in the top ten since 2004, but in a strong 11th place right now, he could be one to watch as he is only seven hours behind the race leaders.

Rookie Justin Savidis’ lost three-year old dog “Whitey” has yet to be recovered, Iditarod Headquarters is reporting. Savidis lost the dog on the trail between Nikolai and McGrath a few days ago and since then a search has been underway with Savidis joining Alaska State Troopers and flying overhead. Members of the Iditarod Air Force have also been keeping an eye out for the dog, as have local McGrath volunteers who are taking to the trail on snowmachine. Officials report that Savidis is continuing to stay in McGrath with this hopes his dog will be found and returned to him.

Two more mushers have scratched from this year’s race; fan favorite Karen Ramstead unfortunately decided to scratch last night in McGrath sitting personal reasons. Reports say that her team of 14 dogs looked great coming into the checkpoint, Ramstead is known for being one of only a few mushers in the sport to have a whole team of pure-bred Siberian Huskies. Tom Thurston also scratched in McGrath, this morning the musher cited his team’s performance as the reason he was withdrawing from the race. He only had 9 dogs on his team at the time.