Lance Mackey, Hugh Neff and Zack Steer were the first three mushers to reach the Circle checkpoint of the Yukon Quest, according to the latest update from event organisers.

The annual race, one of the biggest dates on the global mushing calendar, began on Saturday (February 6th 2010) with a field of 24.

Earlier favourite Mackey is already proving a strong contender and used his time at Circle to rest his dogs.

However, before he got some shut-eye, he made sure his competitors were aware of news about America’s other big sporting event of the weekend – the NFL Super Bowl.

Neff suggested to Mackey that the underdog win for the New Orleans Saints could be replicated if he beats the Fairbanks veteran.

Earlier in the weekend, organisers suggested no team would be likely to pull away and become the race’s "rabbit" this year and predicted a closely-contested finish between Mackey and his rivals Sonny Lindner and Hans Gatt.