The Rendezvous dog sled races will be returning to Shipyards Park this winter, with a substantial boost in the prize money.

Armin Johnson, president of the Yukon Dog Mushing Association, said Tuesday the annual Babe Southwick Memorial Race will be renamed to the FirstMate Babe Southwick Memorial Race.

Johnson said the FirstMate pet food company is donating a large amount of dog food that will be sold and used to raise a total purse of $20,000, minimum.

The total purse last year, for instance, was around $4,000.

“With this kind of money in this, I have a feeling we are going to have a big race again and there are going to be mushers from all over again,” he said.

The Babe Southwick Memorial was named after a popular musher who died during the 1965 Rendezvous races. The annual event was once quite big and very popular, and attracted mushers from outside the Yukon, though its popularity has fallen off in recent years.

Johnson, who distributes FirstMate dog food in the Yukon, noted the race was not that well attended last year, partially because it was really cold. But he also feels that holding the races outside the city at the association’s trails off the Alaska Highway in the Ibex Valley doesn’t promote a lot of attention because it’s off the beaten path.

Johnson said by returning the Babe Southwick Memorial to Shipyards Park for the first time in about six years, and with a boost in the purse, he expects the draw for mushers will be much greater.

He ran the idea past representatives of FirstMate earlier this summer and the company was in support, he said.

Johnson said there’ll be four separate categories to be run over two days: a 10-dog, 16-mile race: a six-dog, seven-mile race; a two-dog, seven-mile skijor; and a one-dog kids’ race.

Should conditions on the Yukon River not cooperate, there’s the backup plan of holding the races on the Copper Haul Road, he said.

“So it will still keep it way more public,” he said.

Johnson said they want to kick-start a return to the popularity the Babe Southwick Memorial races once enjoyed.