Westminster dog show gets set to pick a winner

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. (AP) » The top dog gets crowned at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Wednesday night, with a field that includes a French bulldog with an NFL connection, a bloodhound, an English setter, a German shepherd, a Maltese and two more finalists yet to be chosen.

Out of more than 3,000 dogs entered, just seven will make it far enough to vie for the best in show prize at the most prestigious U.S. dog show. Usually held in winter at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, the show moved to the suburban Lyndhurst estate last year and this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Each finalist represents a different canine “group,” or type, such as hounds or terriers.

Westminster is often described as the Super Bowl of U.S. dog shows, and Winston the French bulldog aims to make it so for co-owner Morgan Fox, a defensive lineman who was just signed by the Los Angeles Chargers and has played for the Los Angeles Rams and the Carolina Panthers.

Fox said he was “ecstatic” when Winston made the finals.

“He’s basically a superstar,” Fox said by phone Wednesday.

The dog came his way from his grandmother, Sandy Fox, who has bred and shown Frenchies for years. Morgan Fox grew up with one and says that as he watched Winston mature, he knew the dog was a winner in both appearance and character.

“He’s a joy to be around,” Fox said. “He always walks around with as much of a smile on his face as a dog can have.”

Winston, currently the top-ranked dog in the country, faces River, a big-winning German shepherd, and Trumpet, a bloodhound descended from the 2014 winner of another major show, the Thanksgiving-season National Dog Show.