Trumpet the Bloodhound Wins Westminster Dog Show, 1st Time for the Breed in Show’s History

A bloodhound named Trumpet won Best in Show at the 146th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Wednesday night.

This was the first time in the history of the show, which has run since 1877, that a bloodhound has placed first in the most prestigious dog show in the United States.

Trumpet – whose show name was GCHB CH Flessner’s Toot My Own Horn – beat out Winston the French bulldog, Hollywood the Maltese, River the German Shepherd, Belle the English Setter, Striker the Samoyed, and MM the Lakeland Terrier in the Best in Show round, after taking first prize in the hound group round. Just under “3,500 other dogs from 211 breeds” competed in the show, People Magazine reported.

Heather Helmer, Trumpet’s handler and co-owner, was surprised but ecstatic to see her dog take home the top award, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

“I was shocked,” Helmer said. “The competition was stiff, and sometimes I feel the bloodhound is a bit of an underdog.”

Coming in second place in the Best in Show round was Winston the French Bulldog, who happens to be co-owned by Morgan Fox, an NFL defensive lineman for the Los Angeles Chargers, the AP noted.

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

The Westminster Kennel Club is the nation’s “oldest organization dedicated to the sport of dogs,” according to its website, where it explains the “the iconic, all-breed Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show” it hosts:

[It is] the second-longest, continuously held sporting event in the U.S., and since 1948, the longest nationally televised live dog show. The annual dog show—a conformation competition for purebred dogs—and the Masters Agility Championship and Masters Obedience Championship— where dogs from all backgrounds are eligible to compete—make Westminster Week with its nearly 3,000 dogs from the U.S. and around the world a pinnacle experience for any dog lover.

This year’s Westminster’s Dog Show was held outside at Lyndhurst Estate in Tarrytown, New York, approximately 25 miles north of Manhattan along the Hudson River for the second year in a row, according to People. The event, previously held at Madison Square Garden, was moved in 2021 to the estate due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event was scheduled to return to the Garden in February but was postponed and moved back to the estate after an uptick in coronavirus cases in the state.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.