I bought Mars from Jaque & Magali Philip in 1998 as a 3 yr old. He trained with me and went into my Yukon Quest team. He didn't finish that year, but went on to be a main team dog/trail leader in Rick Mackey's top placing Quest & Iditarod teams. He was never dropped after his first year of racing. He was a ravenous eater and held his weight well.