FAIRBANKS - Ramey Smyth, a musher with strong Iditarod credentials, has signed up for the 2010 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.

The 34-year-old from Houston is the 22nd musher to enlist for the 1,000-mile event from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, Yukon, beginning on Feb. 6.

Smyth joins a field that includes three-time defending Iditarod champion Lance Mackey, along with Ken Anderson of Fairbanks, Zack Steer of Sheep Mountain and Hugh Neff of Tok.

Since 1994, Smyth has run the Iditarod 15 times (missing only 1996) and finished among the top 10 six times. His best result, third place in 2008, earned $61,400.

On the Quest Web site, Smyth said he’s entering the race “to make money and to get experience that I can use to do a better job taking care of the dogs.”

Smyth is a builder of custom log homes. He runs the 64-dog Homestretch Kennel in the Mat-Su valley with wife Becca Moore, who placed 17th in the 2009 Quest and is signed up for the 2010 race.

Ramey Smyth has never run the Quest, but his brother, Cim, finished seventh in 2000 and 2001.

Three-time Quest champion Hans Gatt said Monday that Ramey Smyth is capable of reaching Whitehorse first.

“He definitely has the team,” Gatt said. “He’s definitely a guy who can win. But the Quest is a different cookie than the Iditarod.”

As for Gatt, he said Smyth’s inclusion gives him extra incentive to possibly enter the Quest. However, Gatt, who lives near Whitehorse, is waiting to learn who will be the 2010 race manager and who will put in the trail on the Alaska side.

“I’m still thinking about it,” said Gatt, who unconventionally scratched in Dawson City last year in order to save his team’s energy for the Iditarod.

Also, Jason Mackey of Kasilof recently entered for 2010. Mackey experienced a multitude of problems and was running near the back of the pack in the 2009 Quest before scratching in Central, just 160 miles from the finish line.

Mackey said on the Quest Web site that he’s running this year “to finish.”

He is the younger brother of four-time Quest champion Lance Mackey.

Meanwhile, the first race of the 2009-10 season, the Sheep Mountain 150 off the Glenn Highway, is around the corner. Organized by Steer, it will travel between Sheep Mountain and Eureka lodges Dec. 12-13.

As of Nov. 10, all but 10 of the maximum 50 slots were filled. Among those entered were defending champion Jessica Hendricks of Two Rivers, Lance Mackey, Aliy Zirkle, Brent Sass, Jon Little and Paul Gebhardt.