DAWSON CITY – Yukon Quest musher Hans Gatt is one step closer to the gold in Dawson, after pulling into the checkstop more than two hours ahead of his nearest competitor Wednesday evening.

Gatt arrived at 6:02 p.m. to cheers from the gathered crowd. The veteran Whitehorse-area musher declined to speak with media, choosing instead to head off to the dog yard to tend to his 13 tired pups.

As the first musher into Dawson, Gatt is in line to receive four ounces of Klondike placer gold. Donated by the Fellers family upon his completion of the race, the booty is worth more than $4,000.

Each year, Joe and Wendy Fellers donate the gold nugget to the musher to arrive in the town first. The musher must go on to finish the race to be awarded the gold.

After leaving the Eagle, Alaska checkpoint Monday night, Gatt overtook his competitors, Lance Mackey, Hugh Neff and Zack Steer, after a three-hour rest along the Canadian border while the three mushers rested longer at the Fortymile hospitality stop. Gatt's run time was 22 hours and 41 minutes.

At 8:49 p.m., a frost-covered Mackey rode into the Dawson checkpoint. The Fairbanks musher's first priority was to pet each and every one of his 13 dogs.

When asked what he planned to do now that he was in Dawson, Mackey replied he was headed "to a hotel.”

Mackey said the trail into Dawson was rough, as he hit some overflow that soaked his team and his gear. After travelling with Neff most of the way from Eagle, the two separated as the overflow for deeper.

"He's a friend, but I've got to worry about myself,” Mackey said. "He was waddling around in some overflow back there.”

Mackey was not disappointed to lose out on the gold nugget to add to his collection, saying Gatt pushed his dogs harder than himself and Neff, who hails from Tok, Alaska and Annie Lake.

"He cut three or four hours of rest to get here,” Mackey said. "We stayed damn near six hours at Fortymile.”

Mackey added that Gatt is a veteran and winner of the race.

"He's a class act. He's a champion.”

After the 36-hour layover, Gatt will set out more than two hours ahead of Mackey and Neff, but Mackey was not concerned about losing out on the lead.

"I have to worry about what I've got in front of me,” he said, referring to his 13 dogs. "This team's the most important thing to me.”

The four-time champion said he had no complaints about the trail, even with the overflow on the Yukon River. The rough going still enabled the teams to reach high speeds.

"We're not poking along,” Mackey said.

As Mackey pulled out of the chute to head to the dog yard, his team was still excited, and looked as if they could run the last 528 kilometres into Whitehorse.

Neff and his team of 11 dogs came in at 9:04 p.m.Wednesday behind Mackey. The musher and his team were covered with a thick layer of frost.

Once his sled came to a stop, Neff opened his sled bag to reveal one of his younger dogs, Mr. Jester, handing him off to his handler as he was checked in.

Neff said he planned to drop Mr. Jester, one of his pups from his lead dog Anny.

"We'll save him for that easier race, the Iditarod,” Neff said of next month's famous Anchorage-to-Nome race.

The veteran suggested to race officials that they re-route the trail for the next mushers coming in to avoid the growing overflow on the river.

"It's a little rough out there; there is no trail,” Neff said. "It was a great day up to then. This has sort of put a damper on things.”

The highlight of Neff's run into Dawson was following a herd of caribou for a few kilometres along the Yukon River.

In Eagle, Neff said the frontrunners would begin pushing their dogs more, and it seems he has kept up to that prediction.

"Pace is dictated by who you're hanging out with,” Neff said. So far, Neff has been running along side Mackey.

As Neff prepared to head off to the dog yard, he told the crowd it was his girlfriend's birthday. He planned to tend to his team, then head out on the town to celebrate with her.

As of this morning, eight teams had arrived in Dawson, and all teams had arrived at the Eagle check point.

Gerry Willomitzer of Shallow Bay, north of Whitehorse, and Normand Casavant of Whitehorse were expected into Dawson later this afternoon.

Whitehorse's Jocelyne LeBlanc was also enroute for Dawson after arriving in Eagle Wednesday evening.

The 1,600-km race began last Saturday in Fairbanks.