Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by freelancer

HEADING OUT – Defending champion Brent Sass leaves the start chute to begin the Yukon Quest on Saturday in Fairbanks. Photos by ERIN CORNELIUSSEN/FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER via AP

Roaring onto Yukon River, Sass retakes lead

Defending Yukon Quest champ Brent Sass of Eureka, Alaska, blew through this checkpoint about a quarter of the way through the race early today, retaking the lead in a game of leapfrog so far for the frontrunners.

By Freelancer on February 8, 2016

CIRCLE CITY, Alaska — Defending Yukon Quest champ Brent Sass of Eureka, Alaska, blew through this checkpoint about a quarter of the way through the race early today, retaking the lead in a game of leapfrog so far for the frontrunners.

From here, Quest mushers head onto the Yukon River, where pre-race trail reports indicated jumble ice will be their next major obstacle.

Sass had rested his full, 14-dog team for five hours and took a nap between Central and here as Tok musher Hugh Neff and Two Rivers’ Allen Moore passed him and arrived late Sunday in the checkpoint only eight minutes apart, at 11:29 p.m. and 11:37 p.m., respectively.

Neff and Moore, both also still mushing 14 dogs, opted to feed and rest their teams.

But Sass did not linger in Circle. His team arrived at 12:30 a.m. today and stayed only nine minutes. That was just long enough to tear through his drop bags and pack food, straw and other supplies in his sled bag.

He sprinted to fill up his fuel bottle from a barrel next to the firehouse, its interior decorated with colourful posters for each team, and ran back to his sled.

About 20 race fans, officials and volunteers watched Sass, a blur of activity, hurrying to get back on the trail.

“Going down the river to go check it out, see what’s happening,” Sass said. “Dogs are looking good.”

Sass said he was not concerned about the jumble ice.

“It is what it is. You can’t change it,” he said.

Sass checked over his team one more time and pulled his snow hook right after Matt Hall, another top contender from Two Rivers, arrived and parked his 12 dogs.

“Hike! Hike!” Sass called to his team as they pulled hard, heading into the darkness. “Good dogs!”

Neff, upbeat after coming off the trail, said he expected Sass to mush from here to Slavin’s Cabin, another 58 miles.

“We all know each other’s game plans and what we’re doing,” Neff said.

“We’ve all been racing against each other for years, and we all know we all have great teams. I mean, I thought I had a great run, and all of a sudden Allen’s right behind me.”

Asked if he had seen Moore’s headlamp behind him, Neff shared some wisdom he had heard given from legendary Huslia sprint musher George Attla, who died in 2015, to Iditarod champion Martin Buser: “Never look back.”

“And I never look back,” Neff said. “Well, sometimes.”

Both Neff and Moore said the leg from Central to Circle had been smooth.

Moore described the trail as “picture perfect.”

Moore said he had run into some trouble earlier, heading to the Mile 101 checkpoint: His sled tipped on its side in some overflow. The mishap had gotten one of his legs wet, but not too bad, he said.

“It wasn’t that much,” Moore said.

By Casey Grove
Fairbanks News-Miner

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