(Reuters) – A Pekingese, a whippet, an old English sheepdog and a French bulldog are among finalists at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Sunday as it draws to a close in Tarrytown, New York, the first time the competition has been held outside Manhattan.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers moved the show from its usual Madison Square Garden digs to the 19th-century Lyndhurst Mansion by the Hudson River in Tarrytown, and delayed it from February so it could be held outside.
On Sunday evening, Bourbon the whippet, a runner-up last year, will face off Wasabi the Pekingese, who beat out thousands of other dogs to win best in show at the 2019 American Kennel Club National Championship. Mathew, the French bulldog, and Connor, the old English sheepdog, will also be in the finals alongside the winners of the sporting, working and terrier groups, which will be determined earlier on Sunday.
Held annually since 1877, the show is one of oldest and most popular sporting events in the United States. Dogs from than 200 different purebred breeds can compete, with judges determining which contenders best conform to their breed’s standards.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; editing by Diane Craft)
