Jamaica dogsled team to compete in Yukon Quest

Ocho Rios, Jamaica - The Jamaica Dogsled Team is the first team to have entered the 2009 International Federation of Sleddog Sports World Championships inDaaquam, Quebec, Jan. 16 to 25.

Ocho Rios, Jamaica - The Jamaica Dogsled Team is the first team to have entered the 2009 International Federation of Sleddog Sports World Championships inDaaquam, Quebec, Jan. 16 to 25.

More than 400 teams and 2500 dogs from five continents are expected to participate this year. 
Jamaica Dogsled Team musher Damion Robb will be racing in the Six-Dog Class for the first time as well as the Adult Four-Dog Speed Class in which he is currently ranked 13th in North America on snow by the International Sled Dog Racing Association (ISDRA).
In the race to the Yukon Quest, the Jamaica Dogsled Team’s Newton Marshall is headed to the 20th running of the Copper Basin 300 Sled Dog Race on January 10; this premiere mid-distance race is known as “the toughest 300 miles in Alaska.“
On completion, Marshall will be the first Jamaican to qualify for the Yukon Quest, the historic 1,600-kilometre race that in 2009 will start in Whitehorse on Feb. 14 and end in Fairbanks, Alaska.  Marshall’s first qualifying race was the 2008 Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race, finishing seventh and receiving the Sportsmanship Award.
“From the very start my goal for the team was to have a Jamaican compete in the Yukon Quest, and it’s amazing to think that Marshall is one race away from taking us there,“ said Danny Melville, founder of the team and CEO of Chukka Caribbean Adventures in a press release.
“And to have Robb competing at the World Championships in his sophomore season is more than even I ever dreamed possible. Every Jamaican should be proud of these young men for their hard work and success in a sport they didn’t know anything about a couple of years ago and it’s thrilling for everyone involved to be playing a part.“
The Jamaica Dogsled Team is sponsored by Jimmy Buffett and Margaritaville, Sorel, the Jamaica Tourist Board, Annamaet Petfoods and Alpine Aviation, and is part of the Chukka Caribbean Adventures family.
In addition to the mushers training and racing in Jamaica and North America, the team’s dogs in Jamaica - a motley crew of mixed breed dogs found on the street or through the Jamaican Society for Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (JSPCA) - are part of the unique Jamaica Dogsled Team “experience” and “encounter,“ offered at Chukka Caribbean Adventures.
Team membership for these dogs means a new and better life of care and meaning.