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Show Page A12 Thursday, February 19, 1981 The Newspaper M ccording to popular folklore the word "mush" once was used by the owners of sled dogs to spur their animals to greater efforts. One explanation expla-nation is that the word is a derivation of the French "marche." , Well, they don't use "mush" much any more. You're more likely to hear "hike" instead. But the word "mush" could well have been used last Saturday to describe the condition of the track at the third annual Park City. Dog... SJed Race held on the golf course. The mercury soared into the 40s before the start of the two-day event, making conditions con-ditions less than ideal for the 15 teams scheduled to compete. com-pete. But veterans of the 1980 race could console themselves them-selves with one thought: last year it rained. Returning to defend his title in the seven-dog class was Frank Vincent, the Midway dairy farmer who races a team of Irish setters. That's right, Irish Setters. l . f- , T r '-', ... I r ( J 1 Some sled dog racers spend thousands of dollars on a team, chosing dogs as carefully care-fully as one might select racehorses. But not Vincent. Vincent spent $10 a few years back to rescue an Irish Setter bitch from the Orem. city pound. He bought a male' setter for $20, then raised his own team. In 1980, Vincent finished eighth in the world, using the point system established by the International Sled Dog Racing Association (ISDRA), for racers with seven-dog teams. -X aw " Vincent was clearly the man to beat at the Park City race last weekend. But first he had to reckon with Pat Shane, a female firefighter-EMT firefighter-EMT from the Bountiful area who finished third last year. Saturday's slushy conditions condi-tions took their toll on all the teams, but they seemed particularly tough on Vincent's Vin-cent's setters. They appeared appear-ed drained and lifeless at the end of the first heat. One of the dogs became so exhaust i 1 7. It - ' ...nr-'il. d" V ed that, at the finish line, she was riding on the sled with her master: An added distraction for the dogs was the fact that they-were they-were required to make more , than one circuit around the course (three circuits in the seven-dog race), and unusual un-usual arrangement in sled dog racing. The dogs had a tendency to stop each time they came to the start-finish line, thinking that the race was over. Shane's well-disciplined team had fewer problems in Saturday's heat, finishing . almost a. minute ahead .of.. Vincent's setters. But Sunday was a different story. The race started an hour earlier, the weather was cooler, and the setters took off with a vengeance across the frozen track. By . the end of the race they had made up for Saturday's lost time, and had actually pulled ahead of Shane's team by about 50 seconds. Vincent's dogs weren't the only setters in the winner's circle on Sunday. In the five-dog class, the team : : . f i:v'v.7 h? r at S owned by Henry Egbert of Preston, Idaho dominated the field, in spite of a minor diversion during the race to chase a stray poodle. Egbert finished more than six minutes min-utes ahead of nine-year-old Bryce Maxell of Oakley at the end of the two-day event. Maxell also competed in the three-dog class, in which he finished first in 1980. This year he was only a second behind the leader, Dana Shepardson of Pavillion, Wyoming, after Saturday's race. But he was unable to make up the difference on Photos by David Hampshire ' f ; . . 1 . was a four-letter word aturday's Sunday, finishing in second place, 38 seconds off the pace in combined time. Other breeds besides huskies hus-kies and setters were represented repre-sented in Saturday's race. Pat Shane's seven-dog team included two animals listed simply as "mutts." And Joe Kimmel of Riverton, Wyoming Wyo-ming finished fourth in the five-dog class with a team of Plott hounds, better known as hunting dogs. Some purists in sled dog racing are quick to point out the drawbacks of Irish Setters. "Squirrelly" was "One of the dogs became so exhausted that, at the finish line, she was riding on the sled with her master.' . I'll y I r "TP" Jfci By David Hampshire the word used by one owner. Vincent agrees that setters have a lot of random energy, especially when they are young. But he would argue with those who call his dogs undisciplined, or just plain dumb. "I think it's just the opposite," he said. "They've just got a lot of get up and go so they're harder to train." Vincent has spent countless hours with the dogs in the mountains near his farm. And the result of that training was evident even race before the start of the race. While many of the huskies seemed anxious at the starting start-ing line, howling and pulling at their harnesses, the setters set-ters were the picture of composure. "I work hard at keeping them calm when I'm hooking them up," he said, explaining explain-ing that one of his worst fears is a tangle in the harnesses before the race even has begun. From a physical standpoint, stand-point, Irish Setters appear to have the tools to make good sled dogs. They are big, they have long legs, and they are fast. But Vincent says the most important characteristic characteris-tic has nothing to do with size or speed. "It's their attitude as much as anything. They like to run." That becomes evident as soon as the race begins. The dogs need little encouragement encourage-ment to take off at a dead run as soon as Vincent gives them the signal. Vincent argues that there is no way to force the dogs to run. "They've got to do it FAR LEFT: Setter experts Frank Vincent and Henry Egbert hook up the dogs prior to Saturday's race. CENTER: Bryce Maxell gets some last-minute last-minute advice. ABOVE : Pat Shane and her dogs seem to have different ideas about what comes nest. LEFT: John Martin with his lead dog. because they want to do it. You can't beat it out of them. As soon as I lose my temper, it all falls apart." He travelled as far as California and Montana to compete last year. But, in spite of his successes, he won only $900, just about enough to cover his expenses on the road. Most of the big-money races are held in the Midwest, too far for someone who has a dairy farm to look after. He would like to see an annual race held in the Wasatch Mountains, with a purse big enough to attract some of the best teams in the country. But first he has to win the support of a national sponsor. The race was sponsored by Miller High Life Beer, the Park City Chamber of Commerce, Com-merce, and the Kanganark Mushers Dog Sledding Club. Key roles in organizing the event were played by Doug Smoot, Heber Rassmussen, Steve Gallacher and Bonnie Bedford. Complete results are listed in the scoreboard section. |