Two Rivers musher wins Copper Basin

Allen Moore of Two Rivers arrived in Glennallen at 2:26 p.m. Monday to claim first place in the Copper Basin 300 for the second year in a row.

Reigning Iditarod and Yukon Quest champion Lance Mackey was second, arriving at 2:52 p.m., 17 minutes ahead of Willow’s Linwood Fielder.

As of Monday evening, five mushers had crossed the finish line in Glennallen, with seven more on the trail from the final checkpoint in Tolsona.

Moore, Mackey and Fiedler all passed Norway’s Sigrid Ekran during the 20-mile home stretch from Tolsona to Glennallen. Ekran left Tolsona at 9:35 a.m. Monday, more than 40 minutes in front of Moore, nearly two hours in front of Mackey and more than two hours ahead of Fiedler.

By Monday afternoon, Ekran had faded to fourth, crossing the finish line at 3:26 p.m. Eureka’s Brent Sass arrived in Glennallen at 4:01 p.m. to claim fifth.

Race volunteer Gretta Besse said conditions over the last few miles of the trail were “lacking snow.”

“I guess the last little jaunt is pretty tough,” she said.

Mackey’s second-place finish was particularly impressive, as the Fairbanks musher finished the race with just six dogs in harness. Moore finished with 11 dogs, Fiedler with 10 and Ekran with nine.

Mushers braved cold temperatures throughout the race, which runs from Glennallen through Chistochina, Paxson, Sourdough, Wolverine Lake, Tolsona and back to Glennallen.

Moore won $3,500 for first, Mackey got $2,500 for second and Fiedler received $1,500 for third. Ekran picked up a $1,000 check for fourth and Sass got $600 for fifth.

The $10,000 race includes cash prizes for the first seven mushers to reach the finish line.

Gatt wins Cantwell Classic

British Columbia’s Hans Gatt was the first musher to cross the finish line in the Cantwell Classic 200 Sled Dog Race Saturday evening. Anchorage’s Debbie Moderow was second in the race, which included a $5,000 purse.

Fairbanks musher Jessie Royer was third, followed by Michelle Phillips of Tagish, Yukon in fourth, Judy Currier of Two Rivers in fifth.

Jennifer Kemper, a handler for Jeff King, was sixth, followed by Fairbanks’ Clint Warnke in seventh.

Big Lake 18-year-old Rohn Buser placed eighth, Nenana’s Aaron Burmeister was ninth and John Stewart was 10th. Buser’s father, four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser, finished 12th.

A total of 32 mushers finished the race, including Ramy Brooks, a longtime top Alaska distance musher who’s currently serving a two-year ban from the Iditarod for animal cruelty charges. Brooks finished 16th.

Copper Basin 300

$10,000 purse

Glennallen

(As of 5 p.m. Monday)

Into Glennallen

1. Allen Moore, 2:26 p.m.; 2. Lance Mackey, 2:52 p.m.; 3. Linwood Fiedler, 3:09 p.m.; 4. Sigrid Ekran, 3:26 p.m. 5. Brent Sass, 4:01 p.m.

Out of Tolsona

6. Aliy Zirkle, 12:42 p.m.; 7. Sebastian Schnuelle, 1:14 p.m.; 8. Sven Haltmann, 1:15 p.m.; 9. Jason Young, 1:49 p.m.; 10. Dries Jacobs, 1:57 P.M.; 11. Braxton Peterson, 2:12 p.m.; 12. Sam Deltour, 2:42 p.m.

Out of Wolverine

13. Richard Corcoran, 1:07 p.m.; 14. Denis-Jean Britten, 1:43 p.m.; 15. Ann Ledwidge, 1:47 p.m.; 16. Andreas Moser, 4:04 p.m.; 17. Colleen Robertia, 4:22 p.m.

Out of Sourdough

18. Phil Joy, 10:11 a.m.; 19. Julie Estey, 10:27 a.m.; 20. Darrin Lee, 11:14 a.m.; 21. Bruce Milne, 11:50 a.m.; 22. Jeff Deeter, 12:03 p.m.

Scratched

Gabrielle Dunham, Martin Jahr, Zoya DeNure, Mike Mayer,

2008 Cantwell Classic

$5,000 purse

Cantwell

1. Hans Gatt; 2. Debbie Moderow; 3. Jessie Royer; 4. Michelle Phillips; 5. Judy Currier; 6. Jennifer Kemper; 7. Clint Warnke; 8. Rohn Buser; 9. Aaron Burmeister; 10. John Stewart; 11. Hugh Neff; 12. Martin Buser; 13. Didier Moggia; 14. anne Capistrant; 15. Scott Reid; 16. Ramy Brooks; 17. Bill Cotter; 18. Kelly Griffin; 19. Mike Barnett; 20. Paul Geoffrion; 21. Benedikt Beisch; 22. Allen Miller; 23. Bob Hickel; 24. Anja Fein; 25. Wayne Curtis; 26. Tamara Rose; 27. Tammi Rego; 28. Dale Curry; 29. Christine Roalofs; 30. Jason Weitzel; 31. Lucy Tyrrell; 32. Debbie Hoover.