Due to racetrack conditions, the scheduled return this weekend of popular sled dog races at Sunset Ridge Golf Links in Westbrook has been canceled.
The races were slated to take place this Saturday, March 21, and Sunday, March 22, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
As part of the city’s Winter West festival, sled dog races took place on Saturday, Feb. 14, and were well attended. The event also featured a craft fair and animal adoption clinic.
Tina Radel, Westbrook’s communications coordinator, said Tuesday that the upcoming races were canceled “due to weather and poor trail conditions.”
Given the heavy snowfall in February, organizers from Sunset Ridge and the New England Sled Dog Club planned a second weekend of races, but a recent warm-up has caused much of the accumulated snowpack to disappear.
Allen Hayman, the owner of Sunset Ridge Golf Links, said the cancellation was a joint decision between the New England Sled Dog Club and the Westbrook Trail Blazes snowmobile club, which grooms the trails.
“The trail conditions were deemed too icy with unfavorable weather conditions to allow for grooming of the trails prior to the race,” Hayman said. “The safety of the dogs and the racers are our primary concern, and we all decided that the icy trail conditions could not be made any better prior to the races.”
He added that the Trail Blazes had shut down all the local snowmobile trails this weekend in light of the poor conditions.
According to the initial press release, the New England Sled Dog Club expected approximately 50 teams to race over the two-day event.
– Andrew Rice
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