Wasabi beat out 2,500 other canine competitors to win the top award.
A Pekingese named Wasabi won Best in Show at the Westminter Kennel Club Dog Show, beating out 2,500 other canine competitors. Winning seems to run in Wasabi’s family. Grandfather Malachy won Best in Show in 2012. “He has showmanship. He fits the breed standard. He has that little extra something, that sparkle, that sets a dog apart,” said Wasabi’s handler, breeder and co-owner, David Fitzpatrick. Show judge Patricia Trotter said simply: “What’s not to like about this dog?… He stood there as though he was a lion.” Fitzpatrick, of East Berlin, Pennsylvania, guided Malachy to the title in 2012. Still, he said, “I just don’t always think lightning is going to strike twice.” “He can have a filet mignon. And I’ll have Champagne,” Fitzpatrick said with a laugh. The 3-year-old Pekingese, meanwhile, was “pretty nonchalant about the whole thing,” his handler said. Indeed, Wasabi laid down on the dais, occasionally looking up as if to see what the fuss was all about, as Fitzpatrick spoke before a cluster of reporters and cameras. It was a poignant win that came after one of his co-owners, archaeologist Iris Love, died last year of COVID-19. Besides Fitzpatrick, the dog is also co-owned by Sandra Middlebrooks and Peggy Steinman. Wasabi — the name derives from his mother, Sushi — came out on top of a finalist pack that also included Mathew the French bulldog, Connor the old English sheepdog, Jade the German shorthaired pointer, Striker the Samoyed, and a West Highland white terrier named Boy.
