TARRYTOWN, NY – A bloodhound, born and bred in St. Joseph, Illinois, has won the 146th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
The four-and-a-half-year-old dog, named Trumpet (his official show name is Flessner’s Toot My Own Horn), bested six other finalists on Wednesday night to snare U.S. dogdom’s most coveted Best In Show prize.
Trumpet is the first bloodhound to win the honor at the Westminster dog show, America’s second oldest sporting event, after the Kentucky Derby. He beat a French bulldog, a German shepherd, a Maltese, an English setter, a samoyed and a Lakeland terrier to take the trophy.
Trumpet is handled by Heather Helmer Buehner, and owned and bred by her and Chris and Bryan Flessner and Tina Kocar.
The competition, held at the Lyndhurst Estate in Tarrytown, New York, drew more than 3,000 purebred dogs, ranging from Affenpinschers to Yorkshire Terriers.
Dogs are judged by how well they represent the ideal of their respective breed.