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As a former ballpayer, Doug Swingley should appreciate a comparison to the New York Yankees. He's left Alaska's best long-distance mushers looking a little like the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers or Atlanta Braves. They're all so good, and yet right now the Montana musher is much better. Mr. Swingley won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, as he expected. With his second straight championship, he joined Rick Swenson and Susan Butcher as the only mushers to win back-to-back Iditarods. He became the fifth musher to win the race three times, joining Mr. Swenson, Ms. Butcher, Martin Buser and Jeff King. He also ran the race in record time. Mr. Swingley's dogs were so good his rivals all but conceded the race to him by the time Paul Gebhardt led the pursuit into Unalakleet on Sunday. It was clear by then the race was for second place. Mr. King said he could have mounted a challenge had a meteorite struck Mr. Swingley. When mushers turn to the heavens for the intervention of lightning or shooting stars, you know the leader has it locked. Nature might have uncorked one of those forbidding opportunities for daring, like the storm that Libby Riddles weathered in 1985 or the whiteout that Mr. Swenson braved to seize victory from Ms. Butcher in 1991. Even so, the smart money would have been on Mr. Swingley. He's tough, intelligent and he's harnessed the dog power to dominate the field. No matter how dominant the team, winning the Iditarod is never a cut-and-dried business. Mr. Swingley earned it. So congratulations to the three-time champ and his splendid dogs. Good trail to all the teams still bound for Nome.
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