Almost 50 sled dog racers will be preparing their dog harnesses for the 2011 Iditarod event.

The entrants were revealed on a blog post on the Iditarod website, which noted that of the 46 competitors for the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, nine are rookie mushers.

Winner of the 2004 race Mitch Seavey is among those who have signed up, as well as several of the top-ten finishers from this year's event, including Hugh Neff, Sebastian Schnuelle and Lance Mackey – a four-time Iditarod champion.

One of the newcomers to the field, Kelly Maixner, has only been racing in dog sled events for three years.

"I am entering the Idiatrod because I love distance mushing and plan on doing it for a long time," he told organisers.

Mr Maixner works as a paediatric dentist in Wasilla, Alaska and took up dog sled racing after moving to the state three years ago.