Musher Mackey blazes Quest trail into Dawson

Alaskan Lance Mackey, thedefending Yukon Quest sled-dog race champion arrived, in Dawson City late Tuesday night, followed four hours later by the Yukon's William Kleedehn.

"I told you I had some tricks up my sleeve," Mackey told reportersafter arriving with his 13 dogs."You didn't believe me. I'm just getting warmed up now. Yes, it's going to be a nice nice run if I keep this up."

Mackey won the race in 2005 and 2006 and is determined to make it an even three, he said.

Alaskan Hugh Neff came in third at 4:40 a.m. on Wednesday, with Whitehorse musher Gerry Willomitzer arriving in fourth and former triple winner Hans Gatt, of Atlin, B.C. in fifth.

The four teams left the the Stewart River dog drop around 9 a.m. Tuesday morning to run 150 kilometres to Dawson, the halfway point in the 1,600-kilometre race from Whitehorse, Yukon, to Fairbanks, Alaska.

They are required to stay in Dawson for 36 hours to rest their teams.

Whitehorse musher Kiara Adams, 19, became the second musher to scratch, on Tuesday in Pelly Crossing. Earlier, Catherine Pinard also withdrew, saying she did not think she had enough dogs to continue.

Twenty-six teams remain in the race.