Mackey pulls out of Yukon Quest

That means there's no chance for an Idita-Quest trifecta by Mackey. The 38-year-old from Fairbanks won back-to-back titles in the Yukon Quest and Iditarod in 2007 and 2008, the only musher in history to accomplish such a feat once, much less twice.

On Friday, Mackey said he will not race in the 1,000-mile race from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, mostly because of a lucrative deal he made with an Alaska musher trying to qualify for the Iditarod in March.

Mackey took Kwethluk musher Harry Alexie under his wing in October, leasing him 24 dogs and giving him daily expertise.

Alexie picked a good mentor. Mackey is a two-time Iditarod champion and the son of 1978 Iditarod champion Dick Mackey and half-brother of 1983 Iditarod champion Rick Mackey.

What Mackey gets in return for training Alexie is a deal worth $50,000 in money and expenses from the Alaska Army National Guard, which Alexie has belonged to for 13 years.

The deal also came with a difficult decision: Yukon Quest or Iditarod?

With Alexie training with a team made up mostly of Mackey's yearlings, all that would remain in Mackey's Comeback Kennel are enough veterans and youngsters to give him a chance at winning one of Alaska's two premier long-distance races.

Mackey, a member of the Yukon Quest board of directors, said the choice has been weighing on him for a few weeks.

"I've gotta go with my gut feeling," Mackey said by phone on his way to Glennallen for today's Copper Basin 300. "I'm not going to run the Quest this year. I don't have any spares."

Mackey has yet to officially pull out of the Quest, Yukon Quest executive director Tania Simpson said. If he withdraws by Jan. 30, he can get $500 of his $1,000 entry fee refunded.

His absence will leave the Quest without its most famous and winningest musher. Last year's victory made Mackey the race's lone four-time champion, surpassing three-time champion Hans Gatt of Canada.

This year's field was supposed to be one of the best in the race's 26-year history: Mackey, Gatt, Quest rookie and four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser, 2008 Quest runner-up Ken Anderson and Top-10 Iditarod finisher Jon Little.

But Mackey would rather focus on the bigger picture -- as in the bigger purse. The Iditarod has treated him well in the last two years, awarding him $138,000 in prize money and two new Dodge trucks. He gave the first truck to his wife, Tonya, and traded the second for a sports car.

"I still need a new truck," he said. "That's my ultimate motivation. I'm fired up and determined to win."

His last two Quest wins have earned him $75,000.

"I'd hate to say it's about the money," Mackey said. "I'm making this decision to do what's best for my kennel."

With Alexie in the picture, Mackey said it's his duty to give the Iditarod rookie his full attention and a well-trained team. The Yukon Quest starts Feb. 14 and the Iditarod begins March 7.

The Army National Guard is counting on him, Mackey said. Last year the Army National Guard hired Iditarod veteran Al Hardman of Michigan to train Master Sgt. Rodney Whaley of Franklin, Tenn., for his rookie run. Whaley ended up scratching in Cripple.

This year the National Guard picked Alexie, an Alaska Native who wanted Mackey as a mentor. Alexie is a Personnel Service NCO for the 2nd Battalion 297th Infantry in Bethel.

Once Alexie and his dogs begin their journey to Nome, Alexie will be on his own. Mackey's focus will be on capturing his third Iditarod title.

Mackey said he'll return to the Quest in the future. But for this year, there will be no Idita-Quest title, at least not for him.

"I don't have a thing to prove to anyone," he said. "I can't run 'em all -- and I sure as hell can't win 'em all."

Find Kevin Klott online at adn.com/contact/kklott or call 257-4335.