Rookie musher Joey Sabin comes to the Iditarod from the mushing hub of Two Rivers, Alaska, though his story begins far from the trail in Grandville, Michigan. Like many mushers, Sabin grew up with a love for animals, but the idea of running sled dogs really took hold when he was young, sparked in part by school projects about the Iditarod and the classic sled dog film Iron Will. Years later, what started as a curiosity would turn into a full-time pursuit.
Sabin first stepped into the dog yard in 2017 while working as a handler for veteran musher Sven Haltman, a mentor who helped introduce him to the realities of kennel life and long-distance racing. From there he immersed himself in the world of sled dogs, spending several seasons guiding glacier dog sled tours with Alaska Icefield Expeditions and later working in Seward with MitchSeavey’s kennel. Those years on the ice and in the kennels helped refine his dog care, trail skills, and the day-to-day discipline required to build a competitive racing team.
In 2020, Sabin launched his own kennel, VOA Racing, starting with just five dogs in Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota. What began as a small, ambitious kennel steadily expanded into a serious racing program. As his goals shifted toward long-distance competition, Sabin made the move back to Alaska, settling in Two Rivers, one of the most competitive mushing communities in the sport. He now operates VOA Racing with his partner, Willoe Maynard, managing a growing team of sled dogs and preparing for the demands of the long trail.
Today their kennel includes 31 sled dogs, along with one small but spirited team member, a Jack Russell terrier named Stevie Nicks. The kennel blends young talent with developing distance dogs, reflecting Sabin’s focus on building a sustainable racing program for the future.
Even before his Iditarod debut, Sabin has built a respectable mid-distance résumé. He has competed in races such as the Copper Basin 300, the Yukon Quest Alaska 300, and the Yukon Quest Alaska 550, gaining the experience required to qualify for the sport’s most iconic race. His schedule leading into the 2026 season included the Copper Basin 300 and the Yukon Quest Alaska 750, all part of the preparation for tackling the thousand-mile journey to Nome.
For Sabin, the path to the Iditarod has been less about a single moment and more about steady commitment. What began as a break from college to pursue a childhood dream gradually became a career centered on dogs, endurance, and the trail. Nearly a decade after first stepping into a kennel as a handler, he now finds himself on the starting line of the Last Great Race.
When he’s not training his team, Sabin stays active through running and strength training, making sure he can match the stamina and drive of the dogs that power his sled. For this rookie musher, the Iditarod represents not just a race, but the culmination of years spent learning the craft of mushing, from glacier tours and dog yards to the long miles of Alaska’s toughest trails.
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📸 Photo credit: https://voaracing.com/about/