Update 10:15 a.m.: Front-runner Brent Sass arrived in Circle at 4:45 a.m. According to the Yukon Quest Facebook page, Brent said the jumble ice on the Yukon River outside Circle "was like running through a maze. In the dark it was hard to tell if he was even getting through it or going in circles."
Sass had about a 40-mile over Allen Moore, who is due in Circle today.
Farther back in the pack, Joar Leifseth Ulsom left Eagle last night, but turned his team around about 20 miles out and returned to the checkpoint. His eight dogs were resting this morning and there was no indication of Ulsom's plans.
Magnus Kaltenborn, the final musher to make it into the halfway point of Dawson, has scratched, leaving 18 mushers on the trail.
EAGLE — Five mushers at the front of the pack separated themselves from the Yukon Quest field on Friday, steering toward a menacing stretch of jumble ice before the next checkpoint in Circle.
Brent Sass arrived well in front at 3:10 p.m. Thursday, carrying a nearly eight-hour lead over defending champion Allen Moore. By mid-morning, Hugh Neff, Joar Leifseth Ulsom and Ed Hopkins had all arrived in Eagle, more than 50 miles ahead of the rest of the field.
But they all faced a formidable obstacle before making it into Circle, 159 miles down the trail. Quest officials said a 20-mile-long path through rugged Yukon River ice was just before the checkpoint, offering a warning in bold type on the trail report.
“That’s certainly not unusual for that part of the river, and it’s been significantly worse over the years, but this is longer than we’ve had before,” Race Marshal Doug Grilliot said.
Sass acknowledged before departing Eagle late Thursday with 12 dogs that the race was his to lose but that he was still wary of Moore and Neff, the pair of Quest winners behind him.
Moore acknowledged that Sass’ lead is “substantial” but said he remains hopeful that his well-rested team will be faster in the second half of the race. Sass has relied on a steady schedule of 100-mile runs to build his lead.
“We had this plan made before the race,” said Moore, who left Eagle with a full 14-dog team. “We just hoped the rest will make a difference at the end.”
Neff lost ground to them both on the run into Eagle, with the gap growing 2 1/2 hours to nearly seven hours.
The Tok musher, who was down to eight dogs out of Eagle, acknowledged that he’d pushed his team too hard early in the race.
“I should have held back a little at the beginning,” Neff said. “I’ve got to realize one of these years to take it easy and go a little slower.”
He was followed by Ulsom, who was down to eight dogs on the line. Despite that, Ulsom said his dogs’ performance improved as the weather warmed after a frigid start.
“It was a tough start, but they’re getting better,” Ulsom said.
The quintet was rounded out by Tagish, Yukon, musher Ed Hopkins. He took a pair of long runs to Eagle, with a goal of separating himself from the mushers behind him.
Now that he’s among the leaders, the laid-back musher admits he was surprised at the development. He said he’ll keep chasing the leaders but probably wouldn’t change his strategy to do so.
“I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing,” he said. “It seems to be working pretty well.”
Follow staff writer Jeff Richardson on Twitter: @FDNMquest.
Joar Leifseth Ulsom lors de l'Iditarod 2013

La Yukon Quest, course de chiens de traîneau longue distance en Amérique du Nord, a vu deux autres mushers abandonner en quelques heures : le dernier du classement, Kaltenborn, à Dawson, mais aussi l'un des favoris, Ulsom, à Eagle.

Le premier abandon est celui de Magnus Feren Kaltenborn (dossard 23), un Norvégien vivant à Carcross au Yukon. Kaltenborn avait occupé toute la course dans les dernières places. Arrivé bon dernier à Dawson City, le checkpoint de mi-course, avec plusieurs heures de retard sur l'avant-dernier, il avait 24h de repos à y faire, selon le règlement. Le 13 février 2014 dans la soirée, alors qu'il avait désormais le droit de repartir, il a préféré abandonner, son attelage étant encore très fatigué par les quelques  parcourus depuis le départ le 7 février. L'annonce officielle a été faite le 14 février dans la matinée.

Le deuxième abandon est plus surprenant : il s'agit de Joar Leifseth Ulsom (dossard 18) qui lui avait fait jusque-là une très belle course en ne descendant pas en dessous de la 4 place au classement. Cependant, après avoir quitté Eagle, le 5 checkpoint et le premier du côté américain de la frontière (la Yukon Quest étant une course transfrontalière), Ulsom s'est arrêté après seulement une vingtaine de kilomètres. Après plus de cinq heures de repos, il a choisi de faire demi-tour pour retourner à Eagle et laisser ses chiens se reposer encore, dans de meilleures conditions. Finalement, après quelques heures supplémentaires, Ulsom a officiellement abandonné. Ulsom n'avait plus que neuf chiens dans son attelage en arrivant la première fois à Eagle ; l'un d'entre eux semble ensuite s'être fait mal au dos et deux autres auraient de légers problèmes. Le règlement de la course obligeant à un minimum de six chiens dans l'attelage, Ulsom estimait ne pouvoir continuer, surtout pour encore . Il était jusqu'alors considéré comme l'un des favoris de la course.

Avec huit abandons et un retrait, la Yukon Quest est passée de 26 à 17 mushers encore sur la piste de Fairbanks. Cody Strathe, qui a quitté Eagle à 7h24 (heure locale) avec dix chiens et s'en est éloigné d'une petite quarantaine de kilomètres en 5h15, est lui aussi en train de faire demi-tour.