Fifteen mushers entered the Yukon Quest sled dog race on the first day of registration last Saturday.

This year's champion, Alaska's Lance Mackey, will defend his title, but three new rookies will be trying to accomplish what he did last February.

Mackey was just the second person in the history of the Quest to win as a rookie entrant in the 1,600-kilometre race between Whitehorse and Fairbanks, Alaska.

'My goal is to keep the same finishing position as last year, but improve on my personal performance, and if possible, set a new record,' Mackey said in a statement Tuesday.

Among the rookies trying to take Mackey's title is Saul Turner, 25, son of Quest legend Frank Turner. Turner is the only person to run every Quest. After this year's race, Turner said he is retiring.

However, Stephen Reynolds, the Yukon manager of the Quest, noted today that Turner has retired before and has come back.

Turner seems sincere about passing the reins over to Saul, said Reynolds, but added, 'I'll say 100 per cent on Dec. 15.'

That date is the final day to sign up for the race, which will start in Fairbanks on Feb. 11, 2006.

Reynolds said he hopes the 2006 race will have a full slate of 50 entrants.

'We always have to hope that,' he said.

This year, there were only 21 racers at the starting line. With 15 mushers ready to go, Reynolds said, it should be easy to surpass that number.

The number of first-day registrants is five racers higher than last year's initial registration, he said, and there are hopes of adding 15 to 25 more people to that number.

'There's indications there's a lot of interest,' said Reynolds, who has heard rumours there may be some surprise comebacks, though he said such rumours emerge every year.

Other Yukoners to sign onto the race are Kiara Adams, Catherine Pinard, Sebastian Schnuelle, Gerry Willomitzer and Michelle Phillips.

Adams, 18, is one of the youngest mushers in the history of the Quest, said Reynolds.

The youngest was Jeninne Cathers, who had just barely turned 18 when she raced the Quest for the first time in 1986.

Adams will be almost 19 at the start of the race in February. Reynolds said she should be celebrating her 19th birthday just a few days after arriving at the end of the race in Whitehorse.

Adams is a resident of Mount Lorne. Though she will be running the Quest for the first time, she placed second in the Yukon Quest 300 this year. She also placed fourth in the 2002 and 2004 Junior Yukon Quests.

Pinard, 30, is a Carcross resident and a veteran of the race, having placed 13th in the 2004 Quest and 12th in the 2003 edition.

Schnuelle, 35, resides in Whitehorse. A veteran to the race, he placed ninth in 2005 and 10th in 2004.

Willomitzer, 36, lives at Shallow Bay, north of Whitehorse. He has raced in the 2005 and 2004 Quests, placing sixth and 12th, respectively.

Phillips, 36, currently residing in Tagish, mushed in the 2004 Quest and placed eighth.

The other entrants so far are: Alaska's Hugh Neff (veteran, third place in 2005), Alaska's Dave Dalton (veteran, fourth place, 2005), Karen Ramstead (a rookie from Perryvale, Alta.), Russ Bybee (a rookie from Willow, Alaska), Richie Beattie (a rookie from Two Rivers, Alaska), Wayne Hall (veteran, Red Lantern winner, 2002), Rod Boyce (scratched 2004) and Emil Inauen (from Switzerland, scratched in 2004).

'We are very pleased with the first day sign-ups,' said Julie Fougeron, the Quest's executive director.

'We are planning for many more mushers to enter the race as the summer and fall continue.'