Doberman named Penny takes Westminster’s best in show as Catherine O’Hara honored
Penny the Doberman pinscher named America’s top dog Linton lands second best in show nearly four decades onWestminster honors Catherine O’Hara with video tributeA Doberman pinscher named Penny is America’s top canine after earning the title of best in show on Tuesday night at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club dog show in New York.Judge David Fitzpatrick tapped the four-year-old female with the mirror-sheen black-and-rust coat from Reseda, California, over a field of six other group champions, among them a Chesapeake Bay retriever named Cota, who was awarded reserve best in show to roars of approval from the crowd.Also making the final lineup were an Afghan hound named Zaida, a Lhasa Apso named JJ, a Maltese named Cookie, a smooth fox terrier named Wager and a popular old English sheepdog named Graham.The victory gave veteran handler Andy Linton another Westminster crown nearly four decades after he last won best in show in 1989 with Indy, also a Doberman.For Linton, who has spoken publicly about living with Parkinson’s disease and has indicated he is nearing the end of his career, the moment carried additional weight.
“I had some goals, and this was one of them,” Linton said.He later told reporters that winning at the milestone 150th edition of America’s most prestigious dog show made the triumph “extra-special”.Best in Show at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show goes to "Penny" the Doberman Pinscher! 🐶🏆 pic.twitter.com/Ui66SyvL8BPenny, bred by Theresa Connors-Chan and Gregory Chan and co-owned with Francis and Diana Sparagna, emerged as the last dog standing after a winnowing-down process that began with roughly 2,500 dogs spanning more than 200 breeds and varieties from all 50 states and 17 additional countries including Peru, Chile, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Breed judging took place during day sessions on Monday and Tuesday at the nearby Javits Convention Center before group winners advanced each night to the prime-time finals under the Garden lights.Each dog is assessed according to how closely it matches the ideal standard for its breed, with judges examining structure, movement, muscle tone and overall presentation.There is no prize money attached to the victory, but the best in show ribbon remains the most coveted honor in American dog shows and can dramatically increase breeding value.Dobermans, long associated with police and military service, have now won Westminster’s top prize five times: in 1939, in consecutive years in 1952 and 1953, in 1989 with Linton, and again in 2026 with Linton.The breed was developed in late-19th century Germany by tax collector Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann and later gained prominence in working roles, including service with the US Marine Corps in the Pacific theater during the second world war.
Linton described Penny, whose official champion’s name is GCHP CH Connquest Best Of Both Worlds, as an exceptional example of the breed and said her temperament reflects the traditional Doberman balance of approachability and protectiveness,It marked the second straight year a dog from the working group won the top prize after a giant schnauzer called Monty broke a 95-year hoodoo for his breed last year,“She’s a wonderful dog, she’s friendly,” Linton said at the news conference after Penny’s win,“Any one of you could come up here and she’d try to get you to pet her, but if you were a burglar, you wouldn’t come in our house,So she’s got that character that a Doberman’s supposed to have.
”Away from the ring, Penny’s personality is relaxed and affectionate.Co-owner Greg Chan described her as “very demanding and very smart”, but also eager to please, particularly when food is involved.Her favorite snack, he added, is simply: “Everything.”Reserve best in show finisher Cota, a five-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever handled by Devon Kipp Levy, drew sustained cheers throughout the final round.While retrievers remain among the most popular dogs in the United States, none has ever captured Westminster’s top prize.
Supporters greeted Cota’s runner-up finish as another encouraging sign for the group.Fitzpatrick, himself a two-time Westminster best in show winner as a handler, praised the strength of the final field before announcing the result, calling it a lineup “that will go down in history”.The sesquicentennial edition of Westminster, the oldest continuously held sporting event in the United States after the Kentucky Derby, also leaned into its place in American pop culture.Organizers paid tribute to the actor Catherine O’Hara, who died last week at 71, with a video montage that played on the Madison Square Garden jumbotron before the judging of the terrier group.O’Hara was especially beloved in dog-show circles for playing Norwich terrier owner Cookie Fleck in Christopher Guest’s 2000 mockumentary Best in Show, which gently lampooned the eccentricities and intensity of competitive dog showing while cementing the event’s place in the broader cultural imagination.
The milestone show produced plenty of crowd-pleasing moments outside the final ring.A total of 202 breeds and varieties were represented at this year’s contest, from affenpinschers to Xoloitzcuintlis.A Danish-Swedish farmdog named Millie made history simply by advancing deep into competition after the breed became newly eligible for Westminster this year.For Penny, the immediate future will include the traditional Westminster media blitz, typically featuring national television appearances and ceremonial photo opportunities around New York before returning to life outside the spotlight – where, if her owners are to be believed, she will remain a driven performer when asked, and a food-motivated companion the rest of the time.“You can’t attribute it to one thing, but she is as great a Doberman as I’ve seen,” Linton said.
“As the judge said, this is maybe the best lineup I could ever imagine, so it’s truly a great honor to win under that judge, who is so renowned and well-thought-of,”
How much did Starmer really know about Mandelson’s ties to Epstein?
After the release of a vast tranche of documents and emails that shed further light on the close relationship between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein, the government has come under intense pressure to release details about its vetting process before Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador in December 2024.The prime minister confirmed for the first time on Wednesday that he had known about Mandelson’s longer-term relationship with Epstein before appointing him US ambassador, saying the former peer had “lied repeatedly” about the extent of his contact with the late child sex offender.That Starmer knew Mandelson had kept ties with Epstein after his conviction was widely reported when the former cabinet minister lost his job in Washington in September. A Downing Street source said there had been reports linking Mandelson and Epstein before the appointment, including after the disgraced financier was convicted, which had been looked at as part of the appointment process. “Peter Mandelson lied to the prime minister, hid information that has since come to light and presented Epstein as someone he barely knew,” said a Downing street source
Last chance, Keir? MPs in despair as crisis engulfs Downing Street
The debacle of last summer, when Keir Starmer caved in over welfare changes after promised concessions failed to convince his mutinous backbenchers, was viewed as a low point for his government. Now, amazingly, it has happened all over again.If the repetition of history was not already enough, with the ructions over releasing government documents about Peter Mandelson, once again Starmer has a certain Angela Rayner to thank, in part, for digging him out of a political hole.With welfare reform it was the then-deputy prime minister who bluntly told Downing Street that their offering to Labour MPs was not enough to prevent a likely Commons defeat, prompting No 10 to drop the bulk of the plans.On Wednesday, Rayner was a key voice advocating that the intelligence and security committee (ISC) should vet the Mandelson files, not No 10, a decision eventually adopted by the government in its amendment to a Conservative motion
Nigel Farage’s two-day trip to Davos cost more than £50,000, documents reveal
Nigel Farage’s two-day trip to Davos cost more than £50,000 after he was given two guest passes by an Iranian-born billionaire, documents show.The Reform UK leader officially declared his attendance at the conference on the register of MPs’ interests, after giving speeches at the Switzerland summit in which he pledged to “put the global elites on notice”.Despite previously having dismissed the World Economic Forum as a jaunt for “globalists”, Farage also accepted £1,100 of luxury hotel accommodation from the conference organisers.The Guardian revealed last month that Farage had his trip to Davos paid for by Sasan Ghandehari, which the Reform UK leader refused to confirm at the time. He was registered at the forum under the banner of HP Trust, which is the family office of Ghandehari and describes itself as having a portfolio value in excess of $10bn (£7
Labour forced into humble pie address over Mandelson disclosures | John Crace
Sometimes the obvious question is the killer question. The one on the minds of practically every person in the country. No need for anything tricksy. No try-hard rhetorical flourishes. Just keep it simple
Committee to review Mandelson disclosures after Labour MPs threaten to rebel
Ministers have been forced into a last-minute concession after Labour MPs had threatened to vote down a government amendment to limit the disclosures about Peter Mandelson’s links with Jeffrey Epstein.In the final hours before the vote, whips agreed to hand power over the disclosures to the intelligence and security select committee (ISC), a compromise brokered by the chair of the Treasury select committee, Meg Hillier, and the former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.The Conservatives – who triggered the vote to force the release of documents related to Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US – will back the new amendment.“Yet again the prime minister has to thank Angela Rayner’s swift political judgment to save this government from itself,” said one MP, referring back to the concessions brokered by Rayner ahead of the welfare reform vote. “The sooner the day comes that she’s making the original decisions, the better
Nigel Farage made ‘non-apology’, says school contemporary who accused him of racism
Nigel Farage has been accused of making a “non-apology” by a school contemporary who accused him of racist and antisemitic behaviour, after saying he was “sorry” if he had “genuinely” hurt anyone.For the first time since the row broke after a Guardian investigation, the Reform UK party leader appeared to indicate some remorse for the impact of his alleged behaviour while at Dulwich college, a private school in south London.“I think there are two people who said they were hurt, and if they genuinely were, then that’s a pity, and I’m sorry,” Farage said in an interview with the BBC. “But never, ever did I intend to hurt anybody. Never have
‘Pain is a violent lover’: Daisy Lafarge on the paintings she made when floored with agony
From Dorset to the world: wave of donations helps to secure Cerne giant’s home
‘We put a stink bomb in Stephen Fry’s shoe’: Vic and Bob on the inspired idiocy of Shooting Stars
Sydney Biennale 2026: Hoor Al Qasimi unveils expansive program for 25th edition
Meryl Streep is as withering as ever in first full-length trailer for Devil Wears Prada 2
Letter: Mark Fisher obituary