Big Lake musher wins again

MAT-SU — Cim Smyth is on a roll.

The Big Lake musher cruised across the finish line at the Tug Bar south of Wasilla on Monday morning to win the Klondike 300 Sled Dog Race.

The victory marks Smyth’s second straight mid-distance race win. The veteran musher also won the Tustumena in January.

Smyth finished the 300-mile event that sends mushers from the Tug Bar to Yentna Station and back at 7:57 a.m. Monday. He was 13 minutes ahead of second-place Ryan Redington, and finished nearly an hour before Lance Mackey — the two-time defending champion of both the Iditarod and Yukon Quest sled dog races — hit the Tug Bar in the third spot.

Ray Redington was fourth, finishing at 8:55 a.m., and fifth-place Jessie Royer followed at 9:13 a.m.

Mushers hit the trail Saturday morning and completed three mandatory six-hour layovers before completing the race.

Organizers had to wait nearly an extra month to host the annual event. The race was originally scheduled for a mid-January start, but was postponed three times due to poor weather.

Klondike 300 sled dog race

Into finish, Tug Bar (Monday)

1. Cim Smyth 7:57 a.m., 2. Ryan Redington 8:10 a.m., 3. Lance Mackey 8:48 a.m., 4. Ray Redington 8:55 a.m., 5. Jessie Royer 9:13 a.m., 6. Abby West 9:30 a.m., 7. DeeDee Jonrowe 9:33 a.m., 8. Aaron Burmeister 9:34 a.m, 9. Louis Bissinett, 10. Kristy Barrington 11:09 a.m., 11. Benidict Beisch 11:45 a.m., 12. Jim Lanier 11:59 a.m.

Yukon Quest

starts Saturday

FAIRBANKS — A trio of Mat-Su mushers will leave Fairbanks on Saturday as part of the 29-member field of the 2009 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.

Arguably the most notable rookie in the 2009 race is Martin Buser.

As a four-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Buser is already one of Alaska’s most recognized mushers. But this year he’s taking his first crack at the Yukon Quest.

“I would like to challenge myself and my dogs in a new situation,” Buser stated in a question and answer piece on the Yukon Quest web site, www.yukonquest.com.

A pair of Willow mushers, Russ Bybee and Becca Moore, are also in the field. Bybee is a Yukon Quest veteran and Moore is a rookie.

The 1,594-mile Yukon Quest trail stretches from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. Last year’s champion, Lance Mackey, finished the race in 10 days, 12 minutes and 14 seconds.

2009 Yukon Quest Field

Kyla Bolvin, Whitehorse, Yukon; Jean-denis Britten, Dawson City, Yukon; Martin Buser, Big Lake; Russ Bybee, Willow; Josh Cadzow, Fort Yukon; Normand Casavant, Quebec; David Dalton, Healy; Mike Ellis, Rumney, N.H.; Hans Gatt, Whitehorse, Yukon; Wayne Hall, Eagle; Yuka Honda, Nenana, Jerry Johnson, Fort St. James, B.C; Dan Kaduce, Chatanika; William Kleedehn, Carcross, Yukon; Jon Little, Kasilof; Jason Mackey, Kasilof; Newton Marshall, Chukka Cove, Jamaica, Didler Moggla, Whitehorse, Yukon; Becca Moore, Willow; Hugh Neff, Skagway; Warren Palfrey, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories; Michelle Phillips, Tagish, Yukon; William Pinkham, Glenwood Springs, Colo.; Colleen Roberts, Kasilof; Brent Sass, Fairbanks; Sebastian Schnuelle, Whitehorse, Yukon; Mark Sleightholme, Mossley, England; Luc Tweddell, Yukon Territory; Iris Wood-Sutton, Fairbanks.