‘Never’ thought he’d win: Wasabi takes Westminster
BREEDER-OWNER-HANDLER OF WASABI, DAVID FITZPATRICK:
“I never thought he would win. But like I say, it was just a pleasure to be in there."
Less than 24 hours after winning the Best in Show category at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, the very fuzzy, black and brown faced Pekingese named ‘Wasabi’ and his owner David Fitzpatrick took a victory lap atop the Empire State Building Monday.
DAVID FITZPATRICK: "He is cool and calm. Pekingese are laid back and they have a very regal disposition. But when he's in the ring, he knows how to turn it on."
Westminster Kennel Club director of communications Gail Miller Bisher explains to Reuters how Wasabi is part of lineage of award winning pups:
“He's the fifth Pekingese to win best in show. And it's really interesting because his breeder-owner-handler, David Fitzpatrick, this is his second win with a Pekingese. Wasabi's grandfather actually won Best in Show in 2012, Malachy was his name. And Wasabi's father won the toy group in 2015.”
This year marked the first time the show was not held in Manhattan.
Due to the health crisis, organizers moved the show from the Madison Square Garden to the 19th-century Lyndhurst Mansion by the Hudson River and delayed it from February so it could be held outside.
Wasabi beat out more than 2,500 other dogs to win Best in Show.
