Update: 10:55 p.m. Brent Sass has won the 2015 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. The Eureka, Alaska, musher crossed the finish line in downtown Fairbanks at 10:52 p.m. Monday. Sass left the Two Rivers checkpoint 2 minutes after defending champion Allen Moore on Tuesday, but passed Moore on the trail, lengthening his lead as he neared Fairbanks.
Sass had built a nearly 10-hour lead over Moore earlier in the race, but lost most of that when he slept through his alarm on Birch Creek, turning a planned five-hour rest into one that nearly doubled it. Sass told Yukon Quest officials at the finish line, "It works! Fall asleep on the trail for 10 hours and you can come in first!"
Including the 4 ounces of gold nuggets Sass will collect for being the first musher into the halfway point on Dawson City, Yukon, he will collect nearly $30,000 for the win.
53 MILE CHENA HOT SPRINGS ROAD — After more than 900 miles, just two minutes separated the two leading mushers at the start of the final run toward victory in the 2015 Yukon Quest.
Allen Moore and Brent Sass launched the final 73-mile leg of the Yukon Quest on Monday afternoon, leaving the Two Rivers checkpoint headed toward downtown Fairbanks before a crowd of more than 100 people.
Moore, the two-time defending champion, left at 1:36 p.m. Sass, who led for much of the race, followed at 1:38 p.m. Each team was required to take a mandatory eight-hour layover in Two Rivers.
It typically takes about 10 hours to make the trip to Fairbanks, but both mushers said they’re preparing for a blazing run. Their sleds have been stripped of everything but the essentials, and they plan to spend as much time running behind their teams as standing on the runners.
The race will be on Moore’s home turf, taking a trail that the Two Rivers musher constantly uses in training runs.
He said his team should have the advantage, although he used the qualifier “if the dogs feel good” several times before setting off. Moore dropped two dogs at the checkpoint, leaving with 11 on his team.
“I couldn’t ask for more,” Moore said. “Now the dogs just have to perform.”
Sass enters the final leg with momentum after slicing a 29-minute margin to just 2 minutes heading into Two Rivers. Although he lost the lead on Sunday night when Moore blew through the Mile 101 checkpoint with only a brief rest, they were nearly even when they arrived at Two Rivers at about 5:30 a.m.
Sass said he made up much of that margin climbing over Rosebud Summit and was able to occasionally see Moore’s headlamp on the trail ahead moving toward Two Rivers. He leaves with the same 12 dogs he brought to Two Rivers.
The Eureka musher credited his surge to an episode that looked like a huge blunder the day before. He overslept during a rest outside Central, turning it into an unplanned nine-hour stop. The long stop was so unexpected that a race official traveled to Sass’ campsite to make sure he was OK.
A day later, it’s clear that both he and his dogs needed the break, Sass said. His team had more pep on the run to Two Rivers than it did for several days, he said.
“I don’t think I’d be sitting here right now if that rest hadn’t happened,” he said.
Moore said the race will likely come down to small details. Untangling a line will take enough time to create a quarter-mile gap, he said.
Moore and Sass left Two Rivers with the rest of the Quest field far behind. The next closest competitor, Tagish, Yukon, musher Ed Hopkins, was more than 40 miles behind when the final leg began.
The winner of the Quest will receive nearly $25,000, with the second-place musher taking home almost $18,000. As the first musher to Dawson City, Sass will also claim 4 ounces of gold — worth about $5,000 — when he crosses the finish line.
Follow staff writer Jeff Richardson on Twitter: @FDNMquest.
Brent Sass (gauche) et Allen Moore (droite) installés face à face au checkpoint de Two Rivers, Yukon Quest 2015
 La Yukon Quest, course de chiens de traîneau transfrontalière de  entre Whitehorse (Yukon) et Fairbanks (Alaska), aura un vainqueur dans les prochaines heures. Et cela s'annonce finalement bien plus serré que les prévisions des observateurs. En effet le musher Brent Sass (dossard 2) mène depuis Dawson City, le checkpoint de mi-course, et avait une avance de plus de 10h au checkpoint de Circle. Cet écart avait été réduit à 2h07 au checkpoint de Central. Mais c'est finalement Allen Moore (dossard 1) qui est arrivé le premier au dernier checkpoint, celui de Two Rivers.

Brent Sass a donc quitté Central le premier, avec 12 chiens, le 15 février à 14h58 (heure locale). Allen Moore l'a suivi avec 13 chiens à 16h30. Central est situé au pied de l'Eagle Summit, la montagne la plus haute de toute la course ; un passage qui peut s'avérer épuisant pour les mushers et considéré souvent comme décisif. Brent Sass avait, lors des éditions précédentes, aidé un certain nombre de compétiteurs dans cette passe rendue difficile par les vents polaires. Cependant cette année il a connu quelques difficultés avec son propre attelage et a décidé de s'arrêter à 101 Miles. Pour Allen Moore au contraire, l'ascension s'est particulièrement bien passée. Arrivé à 101 Miles 2h11 après Sass il a décidé de ne pas s'y arrêter et est reparti dans la minute. Brent Sass s'est alors dépêché de se préparer pour se lancer à sa poursuite, vingt minutes après lui. La course poursuite a eu lieu les heures suivantes sur le Rosebud Summit mais finalement Moore est arrivé le premier à Two Rivers.

Les deux mushers ont une pause obligatoire de 8h avant la piste finale de plus de  jusqu'à Fairbanks. Allen Moore, qui habite Two Rivers, a l'avantage de particulièrement bien connaître la piste. L'attelage de Brent Sass a eu plus de repos ces dernières heures. Les pronostics sont extrêmement partagés. La victoire avec le moins d'écart lors d'une Yukon Quest revient à Hugh Neff en 2012 qui avait battu Allen Moore de 26 secondes. La règle veut que ce soit le museau du premier chien de tête à franchir la ligne d'arrivée qui décide de la victoire.