Late charge gives Big Lake musher his third straight Klondike win

KNIK — Big Lake’s Cim Smyth outraced Willow’s Matt Hayashida over the final 75 miles of trail to win his third consecutive Klondike 300 Sled Dog Race by just two minutes Monday afternoon in Knik.

Smyth gave all the credit for his close win to his team, a veteran bunch of dogs that included several who were with Cim in each of his previous two wins.

“They more than lived up to my expectations,” Smyth said at the Tug Bar start/finish line after the race.

Smyth, who picked up $8,000 for the win, left the Yentna south checkpoint — 75 miles from the finish — roughly an hour behind Hayashida Monday morning. By the Deshka River checkpoint, 41 miles from the finish, that lead had dwindled to 30 minutes.

With 15 miles to go, Smyth was in the lead.

“On the way back they knew exactly what they were doing. They knew who we had to catch and where we had to catch him by,” he said.

Hayashida led most of the race, but was hampered by heavy snows that hit the Susitna Valley Sunday night. In heavy snow conditions, being the leader isn’t always a good thing, he said.

“It’s a blessing and a curse,” he said.

Hayashida said he had to break trail often over the final push for home, losing valuable time in the deep snow. But he also said he knew his lead was in jeopardy against Smyth, who has a reputation as being a strong finisher.

“To be honest, I didn’t think an hour was a big enough cushion,” he said.

Hayashida was third last year and finished second to Smyth in 2006.

Fox’s Ken Anderson was third Monday, crossing the finish line almost an hour behind Smyth and Hayashida. As of Monday evening, five teams had finished the race, including Ray Redington, Jr. in fourth and Gerry Willomitzer in

fifth.

Smyth characterized the run from Yentna to Knik as “a slog.”

“There were a lot of downed trees across the trail,” he said.

Trail breakers on snowmachines did their best to keep the trail open, but the front-runners still had to contend with rough conditions that also included overflowing water on low lying parts of the trail.

Though disappointed to see his lead evaporate so close to the finish, Hayashida said he was happy with how his team of mostly 2-year-old dogs performed.

“Oh, they were great,” he said, watching as his team of 13 dogs eagerly went to work on their post-race meals.

Nearby, Smyth’s 12 dogs were doing much the same while basking in the glory of their come-from-behind win. Smyth said he had a good feeling before this year’s race about his team, and his faith was borne out over the final hours of the race, which began Saturday.

“They’re solid,” he said. “They had to be coming back from that big a deficit.”

As for the musher himself, Smyth said he’s starting to get used to the continued success he’s finding in Knik.

“It’s not a bad habit.”

Seavey wins Kusko 300

BETHEL — Mitch Seavey, a past Iditarod champion, followed a team of nine dogs into Bethel at 8:09 p.m. Sunday to win the Kuskokwim 300 sled dog race.

Seavey, the 2004 Iditarod champion, needed 3 hours and 2 minutes to complete the final stretch from Akiachak to Bethel.

He won $20,000 for first place.

Big Lake’s Ramey Smyth was second, crossing the finish line at 9:05 p.m. Ed Iten followed in third, finishing at 9:53 p.m. Sunday, whille John Baker was fourth finishing at 10:04 p.m.

Big Lake’s Rohn Buser, the rookie of the year in the 2007 Kuskokwim 300, finished at 11:45 late Sunday night to place fifth in the race.

Mushing legend Martin Buser followed his son in sixth place, finishing eight minutes after the 18-year-old.

Kuskokwim 300

Into Bethel — 1. Mitch Seavey, Sunday, 8:09 p.m.; 2. Ramey Smyth, Sunday, 9:05 p.m.; 3. Ed Iten, Sunday,9:53 p.m.; 4. John Baker, Sunday, 10:04 p.m.; 5. Rohn Buser, Sunday, 11:45 p.m.; 6. Martin Buser, Sunday, 11:53 p.m.; 7. Paul Gebhardt, Monday, 1:43 a.m.; 8. Jeff King, MOnday, 4:34 a.m.; 9. Sebastian Schnuelle, Monday, 4:58 a.m.; 10. Dave Decaro, Monday, 5:20 a.m.; 11. Myron Angstman, Monday, 5:20 a.m.; 12. Melissa Owens, Monday, 7:40 a.m.; 13. Hugh Neff, Monday, 4:19 p.m.

Klondike 300

As of 7 p.m. Monday

Into Knik — 1. Cim Smyth, 4:12 p.m.; 2. Matt Hayashida, 4:14 p.m.; 3. Ken Anderson, 4:57 p.m.; 4. Ray Redington, Jr., 5:14 p.m.; 5. Gerry Willomitzer, 5:35 p.m.Out of Yentna — 6. Jessie Royer; 7. Jason Mackey; 8. Gene Smith; 9. Jason Young; 10. Joe Gans; 11. Zoya Denure; 12. Kim Franklin; 13. Richard Savoyski; 14. Elizabeth Parrish

Scratched — Karin Hendrickson, Robert Loveman, Cliff Robertson