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Wasabi steals the show! The 3-year-old black-masked Pekingese came out the winner in the 145th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show held on June 13, 2021. The doggy is a grandson of the winner of the 2012 edition of the Westminster Best in Show. Now, that’s an illustrious family. Wasabi, sired by the 2017 Toy Group winner, put up an awe-inspiring show and won the audience’s hearts.
The dog show was held at the gorgeous Lyndhurst Estate, which overlooks the Hudson River Valley in Tarrytown, New York. The show was postponed from February to June, and the 2021 show held in Westminster was the first one to be held outside Manhattan. There were as many as 2,500 contestants from 209 breeds in a tough contest.
Wasabi has a proud owner-handler in David Fitzpatrick, a resident of East Berlin, Pennsylvania. Sandra Middlebrooks, Peggy Steinman, and the late Iris Love are the co-owners. Wasabi is quite a star after having bagged the AKC National Championship in 2019 as the first Toy Breed and was the youngest ever dog at 1 ½ year to have bagged the trophy. He continued his winning streak into 2020 to emerge as the country’s proud No.1 dog.
Here are some of the other dogs who topped their respective groups to be crowned group winners.
Reserve Best in Show and the Hound Group Winner
Bourbon is the top-winning Whippet ever in AKC history. She was crowned the country’s No.1 Hound and the No.2 all-breed dog of 2020. She has won Westminster Reserve Best Shows on the trot. Her handler is Cheslie Pickett Smithey of Georgia’s Sugar Valley. It was a flawless performance from the dog only 12 weeks after mothering five adorable puppies.
Non-Sporting Winner
Mathew, the No.1 French bulldog in all systems, is a cream male, 4 ½ years of age, bred by Chad Howard with Nancy Shaw, the co-owner. Making his debut at Westminster, Mathew has won 10 Bests in Show and the French Bulldog Club of America National Specialty in 2019. Mathew is handled by Sugar Creek, Georgia’s Justin Smithey.
Herding Group Winner
Here’s another proud winner in Connor, the No.1 all-breed OES. The ‘3 ½-year-old’ dog was sired by “Swagger” and handled by Colton Johnson. They won the 2013 Reserve Best in Show at Westminster.
Sporting Group Winner
Jade, the No.1 German Shorthaired Pointer in breed competition and all-breed No.2, the dog reminds one of her famous sire CJ, the winner of the 2016 Westminster Best-in-Show. Temecula, California resident Valerie Nunes-Atkinson handle the outgoing two ½-year-old Jade.
Conclusion
It was a gala show at the 145th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show! There were many adorable dogs, each one of them confident and poised. It was a close contest between the participants, and the judges had an adamant time picking the winners. Wasabi just stole the show, and the group winners were no less impressive. It was a magnificent display of some very gorgeous dogs on a beautiful evening.
