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| Brent Sass at finish with Ace and Slater. Screencap from Kale Casey Live. |
Sass didn't have much time for celebration under the arch, however, as Jessie Holmes came in just a minute or so later. Suddenly it meant much more sense why Brent was skipoling and running with his team into the finish. The champion crouched for a quick winner's picture with his team and the trophy before picking up and running out of the way for Jessie's to sign off the trail.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Brent would tell Kale Casey on the live feed regarding the footrace at the end against his friend and competitor Jessie.
Sass wasn't even supposed to race this weekend. The musher had announced around Christmas time that he was downsizing his racing schedule and Copper Basin was not in his plans, but at what seemed the last minute he reconsidered. Sass placed second in last weekend's Knik 200, coming in just seconds behind young phenom Emily Robinson.
Sass and Holmes spent most of the Copper Basin leap frogging each other, and many knew they would be close together when they finished. The trackers, as on cue, went dark just two miles from the finish so it was anyone's guess if Jessie would overtake the 2022 Iditarod Champion. Brent kept a mile between them for the last 20 miles or so, and his team didn't slow even as they came into the finisher's chute.
Next up into the finish should be Cody Strathe from Squid Acres who has a nice cushion between he and the fourth and fifth place teams - which the race for fourth will be another nailbiter between Matt Hall and Paige Drobny. Teams will continue to come through the finish tonight and tomorrow morning.
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