A Pekingese named Wasabi won Westminster’s Best in Show and Twitter wasn’t having it
A Pekingese was crowned Best in Show Sunday for just the 5th time in the 145 year history of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, and his name is Wasabi. Despite going up against a Samoyed named Striker and a handful of other popular breeds like an Old English Sheepdog, a French Bulldog, a German Shorthaired Pointer and a Whippet, Wasabi was the last pup standing.
“He is just a wonderful dog and he's made correctly,” David Fitzpatrick, Wasabi’s owner and hander, siad. “He has showmanship. He fits the breed standard. He has that little extra something, that little sparkle that sets a dog apart.”
A Whippet named Bourbon earned second place honors, and he will actually be taking home some serious bragging rights as well. And that’s because Bourbon’s handler, Cheslie Pickett Smithey, is married to Justin Smithey, the handler for Matthew the French Bulldog who was also vying for the crown. No doubt making for some interesting dinner conversation the night before.
Video Transcript
- And tonight's best in show to the Pekingese.
[CHEERING]
- David Fitzpatrick.
- Wasabi. Wasabi takes it. Wasabi is the best in show winner.
- On Sunday, for just the fifth time in 145 years of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, a Pekingese won Best in Show, and his name is Wasabi. Coming in second was a whippet named Bourbon, who will be taking home some serious bragging rights as well. Because Bourbon's handler, Chesley, is married to Justin. The handler for Matthew, the French bulldog, who was also going for the crown.
- I wonder how their dinner conversation went last night.
- But the real spice of the night came from Wasabi's win, which was a bit of an upset because Striker the Samoyed was actually the number one ranked dog coming into the competition. And Wasabi's win seemed to leave a bad taste in the mouth of viewers on Twitter as well with comments like, no way I would have picked the Pekinese as winner, I am giving up on Westminster Dog Show. This dog won for his grooming, and I think the judges senile must have had free cocktails in the hideout.
Some were less upset about the win and more confused about what they were looking at tweeting things like, the Westminster Dog Show has been won by what appears to be a fishing lure. This fluffy iwalk just won the Westminster Dog Show. I won it. And the winner of the Westminster Dog Show looks like Eric Cartman. But whether Wasabi looks like a cartoon character, or a tribble, or something else, judge Pat Trotter saw something she liked.
- It's a personal preference and appreciation I'm going to say, you know, Pekinese is a very complicated breed with all of the details that one needs to create in their dogs, and I think as a breeder Pat Trotter would have appreciated that, you know, what's hard to get is highly valued.
