Sign up for the paNOW newsletter

Knudsen wins close-fought race at P.A. Winter Festival

Feb 26, 2018 | 1:00 PM

Despite running without a full-strength team, Carl Knudsen managed to capture the top spot in the 10-dog sled races at the Prince Albert Winter Festival.

Knudsen finished the two weekend races with a total time of 1:23:18, just barely ahead of DJ Cantre and Danny Savic who claimed the second and third spots. The winning musher said he’s had issues with the race during previous years, but his 14 years of experience made the difference this time around.

“I’ve run it a couple times and I’ve had some bad luck before, but I had a good run this weekend,” Knudsen told paNOW.

Knudsen said he started the first leg of the race with eight dogs, and the second leg with just seven. As the racing season progresses, he said it’s often difficult to assemble a 10-dog team.

“It’s tough to make up a big enough team to run with,” he said. “Starting with eight dogs, I knew that I wasn’t going to have the power going up the hills and the soft spots.”

Despite the under-strength team, Knudsen said he came to the 2018 races as well-prepared as any of the competitors, with better dogs than he used in previous years. After claiming the trophy at the Prince Albert Winter Festival, the musher said he’ll likely head to northern Manitoba or the Northwest Territories to compete in more races.

Leesha Sinclair won the six-dog race, and Lance Kwasney Bird took the top spot in the four-dog event. The three-dog race was won by Liam Conner, and Clay Mielke was victorious in the one-dog race.

 

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @PrinceAlbertNOW