If I didn't have the time to do it right, I would find something else I could do right. All our dogs are Alaskan huskies, primarily the Attla line of Lingo. We like to breed, raise and train our own. Gait is not a big deal here. I've won a lot of races with dogs whose gaits were pretty rough.
Males are better.
I won't run little dogs. I just won't. They can look like a million but they don't contribute anything. I run the biggest, fastest, toughest dogs that can make the given distance. If that doesn't win for me, so be it.