Brent Sass appeared poised for a long-sought-after Yukon Quest victory Saturday.
The Eureka musher left Circle City at 11:28 a.m., 10 hours ahead of defending champion Allen Moore, who left at 9:26 p.m.
Sass had a dozen dogs in harness as he began the 74-mile run to Central. Between Circle City and the Fairbanks finish line, there's 234 miles of trail.
Moore reached Circle City with 13 dogs in harness and one in his sled. Since leaving the halfway points in Dawson City, the Two Rivers musher has opened a big gap between himself and Hugh Neff and Ed Hopkins, who are battling for third place.
Sass, 35, has enjoyed a sizeable lead for the last couple of days. If he can hold onto it, he'll collect his first Quest championship in nine attempts.
Until he scratched last year -- he was in a close race with Moore when he was injured not far from the final checkpoint of the 1,000-mile race -- Sass had recorded three straight top-five finishes, with his best result coming in 2013 when he placed third.
The field of mushers is down to 16 after three more scratches were announced Saturday. Scratching in Eagle, the first checkpoint in Alaska, were Joar Leifseth Ulsom, who was part of the chase pack, Cody Strathe and Magnus Feren Kaltenborn.
The Quest began a week ago Saturday in Whitehorse and could end Monday.