Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zogman" data-source="post: 365571" data-attributes="member: 328"><h3>Defending Iditarod champion Brent Sass pulls out from race over health concerns</h3>By Anchorage Daily NewsUpdated: 9 minutes agoPublished: 14 minutes ago<img src="https://www.adn.com/resizer/zEefdu_MmAv-hK3GBs5Me-k2lq0=/1440x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/D7Z6K7MK7FFJJL45VQBVJQTJZE.JPG" alt="Iditarod Brent Sass" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Defending champion Brent Sass drives his dog team during the Iditarod restart in Willow on Sunday, March 5, 2023. (Bill Roth / ADN)Defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Brent Sass pulled out of the 2023 race early Saturday morning due to health concerns, race officials said.Sass scratched at 7:42 a.m. at the Yukon River checkpoint of Eagle Island, about 400 miles from the finish line in Nome, “as he didn’t feel he could care for his team due to current concerns with his periodontal health,” the Iditarod Trail Committee said in a statement.Sass, who lives in Eureka, arrived at Eagle Island at 9:38 p.m. Friday as the race’s leader — more than four hours ahead of the next competitor to arrive, Brushkana musher Jessie Holmes. Sass had 11 dogs in harness, “all in good health,” when he pulled into the checkpoint, Iditarod officials said.</blockquote>